Contact Light
by Blaidd Nine
Summary: A US Marine from 1945 is transported to an alternate future, the Mass Effect Universe. What happens as he lives through a different timeline filled with the products of an old Earth imagination? How would he deal being inserted in another war on a much more massive scale? How much would things change? Maybe the answer is this. Chapter 6: Blue Jeans
1. Iceberg

**Author's Note: **This is an AU work that I have managed to think up as I read through various fanfics while taking a break from playing Mass Effect. Some liberties will be taken in order to make the story flow according to how I want to tell it. There'll be deviations and alterations. The Shepard here is a Spacer/Sole Survivor/Sentinel. Any WWII section is an amalgamation of documented battles and are not a representative of any specific moment. I apologise in advance for any mistake I make.

**_Iceberg_**

**Okinawa, 1945**

Another bullet snapped at the ashen grey rock that he was facing. He stayed crouching, leaning against a gravelly boulder that served as his cover, and nearly sitting down in the wet earth beneath him. He hasn't been dry in days, though he lost count and didn't bother anymore. The monsoon continued to pour down on his helmet, a fact that he no longer cared for. He gripped his M1903 rifle firmly when he eventually decided to simply sit down rather than tire himself out trying to avoid the ground. He cringed when he felt the ground soften, followed by mentally cursing at the distant hidden sniper trying to aggravate their forward position.

"We've been soaked for days. Don't bother keeping your dungarees out of the mud." A voice called out.

Private First Class Joshua Vaccarelli scoffed and laughed mockingly in response. His buddy, PFC Paul McIntyre was right by all accounts. Joshua recently won a company mini-lottery, the winner got fresh dungarees.

The most he's been dry recently was when he was aboard a ship on the way to the next island in their campaign, with that place being the Japanese soil he's on right now. He then realised that this was the first time he ever smiled or laughed since he landed in Okinawa. Ever since he started in Peleliu, things have deteriorated steadily. He thought he'd been to hell over and over as he survived through the assault on that island. He felt remorse when he shot down an Imperial Japanese soldier for the first time, couldn't have been older than twenty; he felt the same after the second, then the third. He felt the same way every time a soldier went down by the means of his rifle; until his friends died in gruesome ways one after the other, through banzai charges, booby trapping of dead allies, and then in groups by machine gun fire, artillery, and mortar explosions.

No matter how demonised the enemy was, Joshua still thought that they were humans. It struck him sometimes that the people he shot and killed had wives, girlfriends, and children, same as the Marines that were with him. It struck him the worst when he ran over to check a fleeing soldier that he fired at, going over his satchel only to find a journal written in Japanese, with a photo of the person he killed with his family, smiling. Inside the satchel was a ragged doll, made by hand due to the quality, no doubt made by the wife or the daughter. Later on, he burned all of the things inside the dead soldier's satchel, not knowing whether he did it out of respect or shame.

That was in Peleliu. Now, he had no feelings against ending the life of an enemy. They took advantage of people like him, the ones that showed kindness. He nearly got killed when he tried to help an unarmed, surrendering soldier, only for him to overpower and attempt to impale him with a knife. The next soldier that waved a white flag, which is a rarity in itself due to the nature of the Imperial Japanese Army, was gunned down by him through his helmet and didn't feel any emotion as he watched the brain matter pool on the dirt. He felt nothing when he watched a fellow Marine shoot an aging Japanese soldier.

Joshua poked his head over the boulder, trying to get a visual on what is happening on the other side of the ridge. He was greeted with the sight of a rifle round hitting the surface a few centimetres from his face. He quickly ducked down in reaction and spat out the rock bits that flew into his mouth. Although it wasn't the closest he's ever been to being shot, the dash through an airfield in Peleliu while under fire being the top of the list, it prompted him to rethink his situation. _I'm going to die here_, he thought. When a mortar round exploded a few metres away from him, he was saying it out loud. "I'm going to die here, in a muddy hole. This is it, isn't it? "

"Yeah? Well, if we'd still be here for another month, I think we'd all prefer to die instead!" McIntyre chimed. A bunch of others grimly laughed at the remark.

Joshua could see the logic behind the joke. He looked around and saw it. He saw how the position he was in was starting to resemble the Great War. They were mired in filth and mud. They were sleeping and huddled in a land that's part sewage and part graveyard. Maggot-ridden corpses of Japanese soldiers and American troops are left to rot in the open; nothing more than uniformed decaying half buried bodies in the mud. The rain tortured the sodden ridge, amplifying the stench of death and caused injured, untended wounds to fester. One could dig a handful of soil or check their pockets and find it filled with maggots and blood. Supplies were low. Joshua himself hasn't slept in two days.

Another mortar landed around their vicinity. "I think they're zeroing in on us." Someone from the rear muttered.

"I think they already did. They're just waiting for us to get out of these rocks so they could mow us down with that MG nest. I want to shoot that prick." Joshua replied, adjusting himself on the mud. He turned to look at McIntyre who was holding a smirk. "What?" He asks him.

"Remind us again, Vaccarelli, why are you fighting the people of your mother?" McIntyre jokingly asked in an attempt to defuse the situation with some light-hearted humour. This garnered a few chuckles from everyone.

"Fuck you. She's Filipino, not a fuckin' Jap." Joshua replied with full on smugness. "Because of these stupid pricks, my mother's family are probably dead or worse. My father had to go around Filipinotown to get news about what's going on in the PI. News weren't good, he says." He explained.

"I enlisted after." He paused to look at his buddies' faces. "I didn't want to miss out on the war and kill these pricks." Joshua explained, half-laughing. Everyone else snickered.

As if by cue to hamper their newfound amusement, the monsoon strengthened and the tiny frequent droplets turned into heavy rain. Thunder and lightning accompanied the explosions that lulled them into awareness. Joshua thought about peeking over the boulder once more, but ultimately deciding against it. Someone tapped his shoulder and offered him a pack of Lucky Strikes with one stick left. He was going to decline it, yet chose to keep the remaining cigarette, slipping it in his front pocket. His tired eyes stared at the now empty packet, slowly crumpling it as he attempted to distance himself from the war zone. An image of a freshly cooked steak was popping up in his mind when he was interrupted, distracted by someone relating a story about his girlfriend stateside. _Anything to pass the time on this ridge, I guess._ It continued, anyone who was willing to share a relationship story told theirs, to remember what it was like back home, to recall their flings during liberty, or simply for the sake of holding on to their hopes. Once more, the topic was directed to Joshua.

"Ready for a kicker? Vaccarelli has one heart-breaking story. You mind sharing it, bud? I think it's 'bout time that everyone knew about your last gal." McIntyre directed at Joshua, nodding to nudge him to share.

"It's not so happy, I'm telling you."

"Fuck, look at where we're at. We can handle not happy. Come on, Joshua, come on."

"Alright, man, if you say so."

Joshua placed his weapon next to him, cracked his hands and attempted to warm them up. "So, this was a day before I went to boot camp…" He trailed off, his mind reimagining the story as he told the rest his story. His voice the only thing the Marines listened to as they ignored the bombardment that kept going.

_A blue neon light shone down his face, drink of whiskey gripped in his right hand as he leaned his elbows on the bar. The jazz band is playing a slow song while couples danced on the dance floor, it ends, a piano picks up the music and the people continue twirling and dancing to the now more melancholy track. He sips, as he turns around to face the dance floor. The warmth of the alcohol subsides as he sees her. She wore a green dress, her hair up in a bun, her face covered with delicate makeup._

_She catches his gaze, her eyes locking on his face, her cocktail in left hand as she continued to socialise with whoever was in front of her. She looks up again and attempted to smile at him. He smiles back weakly as he raises his drink from a distance. She raises hers in response. He looks different, his face showed slight distress or worry. His suit was a bit worn, his shoes covered in some grime._

_The room seemingly slowed down as she started to approach him, the piano piece droning out as he started to her the clicking of her heels. Everything froze in his mind as she opens her mouth, "Hi, Joshua, how have you been?"_

_A rush of thoughts enters his head at the mere sound of her voice. He shakes his drink as he takes another sip. "I've been great. What about you?"_

_"__Great, too. Didn't expect you at this joint, though. Nice to see you." She responds, smiling once more. "Here for any particular reason?" She asks._

_"__I enlisted with the Marines. Heading to boot camp very soon. Thought I'd enjoy a drink before I go." He said, straightening up his back on his stool._

_There was a silence for a while as she glances to see his face again in detail. The piano piece ends as she shows a look of concern. "Going off to fight the war like everyone else, huh?" She light-heartedly asked. "It was great seeing you here. Take care of yourself… okay?" She reaches to caress his arm._

_Images of the two of them instinctively invaded his mind, the smell of her perfume further pushing memories into his head. He tries, attempts, to pull them aside, but fails. He pictures her hands in his as she stood mere inches away. _

_ "__Elaine, are you ready to leave?" A man to his right asks out loud, he closes the distance and takes her arm. "Mind introducing me to..?"_

_"__Oh, he's Joshua. My childhood friend." She looks at Joshua with an expression of pride._

_"__And also ex-boyfriend if I remember. So you're him, huh? What are you up to nowadays, champ?" He asked him with an amused, mocking tone._

_Joshua finally manages to get his eyes away from Elaine, his sight taking notice of her left hand. Her ring finger, which now had a sparkling diamond. "Uh, I'm enlisting. Marines. Leaving soon, actually." _

_Elaine turns to look at her boyfriend, who's insulting face ceased as he replies, "Damn. Well, good luck, pal." He tried to be sincere. "Listen, we really gotta run. If you come back, drinks are on me, pal." His arm subtly tugged on Elaine's, causing the couple to start moving to the door._

_With his whiskey in hand, he refuses to look away as they walked to the exit. The big jazz band starts playing again, another slow song. Joshua stomach turns, a chilling sensation shoots up his spine, his skin feels cold. A few paces out from the door, she turns to see Joshua again, she mouths, "I'm sorry," before her face vanishes into the street. He's about to mouth something in return, but ends up with his lips parted, hanging open._

_"__Another one, if you mind." Joshua turns around as he says to the bartender who watched the whole thing._

_It didn't take longer than a moment for the next glass to be on the counter. "On the house, chief. Who was she?" The bartender asks innocently._

_"__Someone who promised to be my fiancée since junior high. Things happened and here we are." Joshua explained he downed the drink. "Didn't expect myself to feel something. I thought I was over her."_

_The bartender looks at Joshua with sympathy. "And now you're about to head off to war. Next one's on the house again, if you want to take it up." He says, preparing another drink. "Happened to me before I got on the boat to England years before. You'll be alright, chief."_

_"__Yeah. Thanks, for the drink."_

_"__No worries, kid."_

"And that was it. That's the last I've seen her. I thought about writing to her—" A mortar round landed pretty close, mud kicked up and landed on some of the troops. "I'm not sure I'd like to speak to her again. I don't want to be in the way with whatever those two have."

The whole ridge seemingly became quiet, absorbing the details of Joshua's story. Some of them sympathised, for they experienced abandonment as well when they revealed to their families or significant other that they're off to fight in the Pacific. Joshua felt guilty for a second, thinking he diminished the morale, but assured himself that it's already at the lowest it could possibly be. He picks up his rifle, checking the sights, making sure that it's not splattered by mud. McIntyre taps his shoulder, thinking it was to get his attention, but finding out it's to reassure him it's alright. Joshua nods in response, accepting what happened.

Suddenly, there was a break with the enemy artillery. Everyone on Joshua's side looked over the barren ridgeline. There was a smoking hut perched on a failing cliff, snuffed out by mortars from before, and its smoke billowed up in the raining sky. The silence was broken by a scream. "_Tennoheika Banzai!"_

All of a sudden, about ten Japanese soldiers came out of cover, and scrambled out down in the open, killing zone. With their weapons at the ready, their uniforms as dirty as the earth beneath them and an Empire of Japan flag perched on one soldier's backpack, the Japanese soldiers charged.

"Fuck!" Someone in Joshua's line yelled.

Joshua quickly shouldered his rifle and fired off at the soldier with the flag, immediately pulling his bolt up and back, loading another round in. The flag-bearer stopped in his tracks, taking a step back. Joshua fired again, hitting his chest once more. He fell on his knees. Another round hit his head and he fell backwards, with the flag almost draping over his body. Joshua fired off a last shot to his corpse.

When the short barrage of gunfire ended, there was still one Japanese soldier alive, but barely. He was obviously wounded; his shoulder and thigh were puckered with holes that bled like a flowing river and yet, he trudged on forward with his officer's sword held up. Joshua then sighted him in with his rifle and fired his last round into his head. When his weapon kicked back the Japanese officer was lying face down on the mud with his grape split open by the rifle round, appearing like a blown out melon.

The rain continued to pour as someone yelled for a cease fire. Down the line, a couple of Marines started fidgeting for something in their soaked satchels or knife sheathes, Joshua was about to ask why when he heard the word getting passed down. With Joshua eyes widened opened from adrenaline, he reached for a clip and put a fresh batch of rounds in his rifle.

"Hey! Fix bayonets if you still have them! Load up!"

He immediately reached for his knife sheathe, the chilling grip of the handle bit his clammy hands as he attached the bayonet in one quick movement. He checked his bandoliers, seeing if he had extra ammunition. He sat back down, his ankles supporting his buttocks as leaned up against the boulder. They waited; they waited for the enemy artillery to stop for more than five minutes. Joshua body started to uncontrollably tense up, as he positioned himself to prepare for the upcoming assault down the riverbed and up the opposite ridge. The whole line was silent. There was nothing audible except for the tapping of the raindrops on solid surfaces and the faint voices of Japanese soldiers on the other side. He could hear movement and the slight sound of clinking, which he assumed was a machine gun position being moved.

"Why the fuck won't they just stay hidden and let their artillery do the work." McIntyre commented disturbed and irritated. "Fuckin' Japs."

Five minutes have passed. Their radioman relayed the coordinates. It was the Allies' turn to bombard the enemy ridge.

Artillery soared over their heads as the rounds made contact with the ground that they're now looking at. It continued steadily for thirty seconds, the spectacular sight of ordnance being dropped was traded for the cries of pain coming from some of the still hidden Japanese troops. A hut was up in flames, appearing to be inextinguishable by the monsoon. A breath of hope entered their bodies as they waited once more, this time for the confirmation.

"Over the ridge, go! Go!"

The Marines pushed forward, taking advantage of their artillery's after effect. Their rifles fired on multiple dazed targets as they assaulted downwards to the river bed. Joshua climbed over his cover and dashed downhill with his rifle at the ready, his eyes darting around, looking for a potential target. McIntyre was ahead of him by a few feet. Joshua kept his footing as the sodden ground beneath his feet started to give way. He stepped over bodies and on an arm protruding out of the mud, but kept going. Then he heard the Japanese military start to fire back, their Arisaka rifles thundered as they aimed at the advancing American troops. He kept moving down and forward, his eyes trained on a slab of granite that could be used as cover. McIntyre reached it first, with Joshua hitting the solid block a second later. It was lucky timing, for the machine gun nest became active once more as another enemy soldier manned it and with one full burst lasting at least ten rounds squeezed off, Joshua saw the bodies of five friendlies fall to the vile, maggot-ridden riverbed. One was still alive and conscious, clutching his thigh that bled profusely, bawling in pain, but cut off when another burst of machine gun fire ended his life. "Jesus Christ!" McIntyre uttered as he watched the same death.

An enemy mortar round whistled in the air before landing on a group of advancing troops, turning them into a mix of brown and red splatter that rained down on the mud. "We have to move, slick!" McIntyre tells Joshua, who nods in agreement.

They both move out of their cover, dashing once more, this time uphill, as they fired on one Japanese soldier committing a Banzai attack. The sight never failed to disturb his mind, the rushing enemy hit by at least eight rounds from their rifles still attempting to kill an American. Joshua thought the Japanese soldiers were lower than dirt now, but he can't help to be terrified and be in awe at their sheer willpower to kill Americans.

As they kept pushing upwards, Joshua fired off his last rounds in his M1903 to take down two soldiers who were reloading their rifles. The thunder and lightning seemed to dance along to the slaughter, increasingly getting frequent, with one bolt hitting a nearby palm tree. He thought about reloading on the run, but decided to hold it off until he reached another safe cover. That moment wouldn't happen though. On the left corner of his eye, he watched the machine gun post turned its barrel on his path and his world slowed down as he waited for the inevitable. His body shifted towards the nest, his right hand letting go of his rifle's grip as he started to reach for his sidearm.

With one burst and the sound of mechanic buzz, he saw McIntyre get shot three times before the line of fire quickly shifted downwards. Joshua felt the searing pain as a round pierce his chest and graze his arm, dropping his rifle and pistol across his chest as he reacted to the trauma. Joshua fell backwards to the ground, rolling downhill as he clutched his chest. He was looking at the sky when he opened his eyes, grimacing in pain. He turned his head to his right, uphill, to see if anyone else was hit by the machine gun's burst. McIntyre was still, his seemingly dead body leaked blood, but Joshua can still see his chest rising up and down. He wanted to yell something out to him, but his senses started to fade. A lightning bolt touched the ground again, this time a mere few feet away from Joshua.

He started to look at the sky as he accepted his fate when he noticed something swirling in the clouds, a vortex which seemed to _suck the rain into it._ The sky started to distort itself around the vortex, the clouds started to shift and bend unnatural ways as they passed the darkened hole. He thought he was just having near-death hallucinations when a flash of light enveloped his eyesight. _This is it, I'm dead._

The Americans that witnessed Joshua's body vanish into nothingness paused for a moment, while the Japanese also stared in awe as they watched the vortex retreat unto itself, the firing ceased for a full ten seconds before the fighting resumed.

McIntyre spent his last few breaths wondering what in the world could've possibly happened to Vaccarelli, his closest buddy since Peleliu. He died thinking that God put Joshua on a fast track to Heaven. His last breath was a scoff that responded to his ridiculous dying thought.


	2. Cinnabar

**A/N: **Warning: This chapter and possibly others will contain language that is now considered offensive. Keep in mind that Vaccarelli is stepping out of time from 1945, where such words and expressions were commonplace. His vocabulary and behaviour will reflect that.

**_Cinnabar_**

**Eden Prime, 2183**

"Clear for a clear, Alenko." Her voice said clearly, moving forward down a ramp, her cheek resting on the stock of her rifle as she held a combat stance.

"All clear, Commander." A raspy voiced male replied, lowering his M-3 Predator pistol.

"Williams?" She turned to ask someone else who checked the crates to their left.

"Nothing here, ma'am." The woman responded, placing her M-7 Lancer assault rifle on her back.

The squad approached the shrine-like object that glowed with a greenish-white hue. "What do you think this is? Is this the beacon, Commander?" The man says, holstering his pistol.

It was a perplexing view, to say the least. The obelisk was lit up like a green metallic candle against the amber red burning sky of Eden Prime, a human colony in the Attican Traverse. For a short while, Commander Leanna Shepard thought that it was disappointing that she lost a Marine under her command for a simple xenomorphic, historical artefact. It looked mesmerising, but it wasn't enough to impress her or cover the fact that it cost squad a life and the local human population. The thought of her closing the eyes of a young follower, gunned down so early in his life was replaced by the hypnotic pull that the beacon seemed to have. "I think it is, Alenko. Don't approach just yet." She ordered. "Check that storage locker over there."

"Aye-aye, ma'am."

Shepard looked over the clearing behind the obelisk. The ground was split, cracked, and the molten ground blazed as it gave off a searing orange heat. "This must be where that ship took off from." She noted.

The three searched the place for anything remarkable, but found nothing more than discarded rifles and explosives in a silver container. All the while, Shepard kept getting a feeling that something was dragging her body towards the ominous beacon, it felt like something whispered in her ears. She glanced at Alenko, who seemed to have the same demeanour as hers. Then at Williams, the female squad member, who also showed signs that she felt similar to everyone else.

Eventually, she had enough of the dreadful aura that the beacon gave and started to approach it. She was nearly halfway when something thundered behind the squad. She turns, just in time to see it come out of nowhere, a dark hole floating mid-air, it seemed to lift itself up as it started to expand, swirling. The view started to distort around the vortex while it continued to widen, getting higher up in the air, matter seemingly getting sucked into the abyss. All three members looked at the swirling darkness overhead, with Williams' mouth agape and Alenko's head turning sideways as their curiosities were piqued. Shards of white light flashed out of the abyss, cracking through the distortion as the vortex rose up once more before it halted all motion. The dark hole stopped all activity; it didn't spin, nor expand any more. Sounds of what seemed like gunfire and rainfall emanated from the abyss, further puzzling the trio. It continued for a few seconds before the dark hole started to spin again, this time in the opposite way where the flashes of light spurted out in quick instances. Shepard cautiously approached the abyss, to get a closer look. Soon, however, it appeared that the hole didn't exist in the same dimension as her or anyone else. The matter _was not getting sucked in_, but rather, _the light bent around _the abyss. She pulled out her pistol and fired a shot into the dark hole.

What she saw next was utterly bizarre.

The luminous projectile from her pistol seemed to pause in mid-air, right outside the hole, before it slowly, carefully, faded from existence, all while the gunfire and rain noises continued to come out from the vortex.

As she holstered her sidearm, a booming sound of thunder seemed to reverberate in everyone's ears. Shepard flinched in reaction, so did Alenko and Williams. She became slightly fazed, but as she recovered, she saw the whole thing receding, with the flashes of light getting weaker. The abyss appeared to disappear, it faded, and so did the noises and the flashes. Before it was gone, however, a great blinding light poured from the dark, swirling vortex, causing Shepard to reel backwards in an attempt to shield her body from a possible hazard. Then it was over. The light, the hole, the distorted view were all gone.

"Commander, what just happ—" Alenko was about to ask when he saw Shepard staring at something that materialised in front of her. They were all silent as they watched it.

It looked like a ball of light at first, but then it expanded, solidifying in the process. It took on a form of a humanoid, before another flash of light erupted from the object. Shepard only squinted, her eyes focused on the "object" that now became recognisable. She shuffled towards it, remaining cautious as she got closer.

"Shepard, I don't think that's smart." Alenko walked towards her, his hand reaching out.

She didn't respond as she watched the "object" cease to project any kind of concealing light and her sense of hearing seemed to stop working for the moment. A bloodied satchel made out of cloth crossed its body. It was a man, dressed in a sage green two-piece uniform and his head was covered by a metal helmet of some sort, which looked ill-fitting on him. Across his torso were a wooden rifle and as she squinted, realised that there was a very old type of sidearm by his right hand. His left arm was reaching over his chest, the hand gripping a certain spot. Shepard was bewildered as to why a man appeared out of nowhere, before she realised something. The man was covered in mud and absolute filth, his eyes looked forcefully shut, and as her eyes scanned the figure, she saw that he was soaked in blood. Shepard, reacting to her medical instinct, lunged forward, kneeling next to the man as her sense of hearing came back. She could hear the man groaning in pain and his face was pale in comparison to his hands. The obvious look of intense pain was painted on his face as Shepard activated her omni-tool to administer first-aid. She moved his hand away from the wounded area, to examine what kind of injury she was dealing with. Alenko and Williams moved next to Shepard, ready to give assistance if she requests it.

"It looks like a gunshot wound." Shepard firmly announced, her hands putting pressure on it as she faced Alenko, the only other person with medical training. "Put these aside." She said, handing the vintage weapons to Williams, who then placed it by her feet.

"Commander, there's an exit wound on his back, he's bleeding there too." Alenko replied, also getting on his knee, bringing his Omni-Tool online to scan the body for vital signs. "He's lost a lot of blood. We need to seal the wounds right away. He's gonna need serious medical attention, Shepard. Medi-gel is ready."

She nodded in agreement as she looked at the man. "Williams, I need you hold his head. Alenko, turn the body so we can take care of him." She commanded. "Exit wound means whatever hit him isn't in him. That's good."

Williams knelt down as she held the wounded man's head gently. Shepard kept pressure on the entry wound as Alenko turned the man sideways. She couldn't help, but wince when she heard the man's agonising scream. "I'm sorry." She muttered to him. Surprisingly, she saw the man's head nod as a response. "You'll be all right." She reassured him.

"Exit wound's sealed and cleaned, Commander." Alenko stated.

They turned the body back to its original state, with the man panting groaning as the pain shot up his chest again. The man then suddenly convulsed and blood spurted out of his mouth. Williams flinched slightly when some of the blood hit her face.

"Anaesthetise him. He's going to pass out if this keeps up." Williams lowered his head to the deck as more blood spurted out of the man's mouth. Shepard nodded towards Alenko and he proceeded to clean it, followed by slathering a sedative over the entry wound before continuing to seal it.

After finishing, Alenko scanned him once more before looking at Shepard and saying, "He's stabilised, but not for long, Commander."

Joshua's eyes opened slowly as he rode the effects of the sedative he was given. He couldn't feel anything other than the calming caress that travelled in his nerves. He blinked and shifted his eyes to the face that was looking at him. A female face against the backdrop of an orange-red sky is what he recognises as the image got blurrier by the second. He tried to say something, with nothing coherent coming out. Then for a short time, his vision cleared out and saw the woman, her hazel eyes that showed concern blinked as Joshua raised his right hand his stupor. He mumbled something towards the face as he directed his hand to it. The dragging sensation of sleepiness started to pull his eyes shut as the woman held his hand and whispered, "_It's going to be alright."_ Then he shut his eyes, unable to fight the influence of the sedative.

After a sigh of relief from the trio, Shepard gently placed the man's hand down on his blood-soaked chest. Alenko stood up, cracking his hands in satisfaction of a saved life, with Williams following him.

The hum of the beacon started to resonate stronger in Alenko's mind. He can't stop looking at the green aura that seemed to grip his body. Taking steps forward, he heard it, the whispering in his head, an unrecognisable mess of an unknown origin. Williams didn't seem to be concerned at Alenko's sudden attraction towards the beacon at this point. He focused his vision at the hypnotising dancing of the ominous green aura. He was closer now. Something was pulling him towards it, his head started to throb and he did nothing to alleviate it like he usually would.

"Normandy, we are ready for pickup. We have the beacon." Shepard reported over her helmet's radio link.

_"__Roger that."_

"Also requesting immediate medical attention." She added, looking over the man's body once more. "We also have one casualty."

_"__Copy. Who's down?"_

"Jenkins is KIA, but we also picked up a stray. Can't ID him. He's not showing up in any of my records. I don't think he's a colonist."

_"__We can't bring him aboard without good reason, Commander."_

"Negative, I think you'll really want to know what just happened." Shepard assured.

_"__Alright, Commander. We're inbound now."_

The radio link was cut off and Shepard finally stood up. Alenko suddenly caught her attention and Williams became aware too, as she ran towards the Lieutenant when Shepard did.

"Alenko!" The Commander yelled as she stopped behind him, watching him get pulled towards the beacon by an unknown force.

Reacting and thinking quickly, Shepard dashed forward, closing her arms around Alenko's waist. She also felt the pull that Alenko was experiencing. With one grunt, Shepard mustered the strength to throw Alenko to the side, where Williams went to, checking him for any possible injuries. Alenko felt a dizzying sensation wrap his head as he watched Commander Shepard get pulled into the influence of the beacon instead. When she was about three feet away, she was thrust upwards before abruptly stopping mid-air. Her limbs were stretched out as something sinister obviously controlled over Shepard's body.

"Shepard!" Alenko exclaimed, attempting to stand up.

Williams held him down. "No! Don't touch her, it's too dangerous!"

The pair could only observe as Shepard _experienced it_, her face contorting in pain as images implanted violently in her head. Her vision within her closed eyes became clouded with abstract imprints; she couldn't make sense any of it, the crimson red tint that seemed to cover everything, flesh and metal bonding together, the screams of an unknown in the distance, a planet burning. The sudden flood of information burned through her synapses.

She opened her eyes as she snapped out of it, she thought it was over when the beacon spontaneously exploded, knocking her unconscious instantly. Shrapnel flew everywhere as she was thrown backwards forcefully before landing down with a thud on the floor, a metre away from Williams and Alenko, who immediately rushed to Shepard's aid.

Shepard groaned as she came to her senses, the images gone from her head for the moment. She stirred as she realised that she was back in the SSV Normandy, albeit at the Med Bay, on a bunk. She pinched the bridge of her nose before slowly sitting up. A headache made itself felt as the Commander sat on the hospital bed's edge.

"Doctor! Doctor Chakwas, she's awake!" Alenko called out. Shepard heard two sets of feet walk towards her.

An aged, blonde-haired woman put her gloved hand on Shepard's shoulder before coming into her view. "Shepard, how do you feel, dear? You were out for some time." She inquired with a motherly tone of concern.

"Minor throbbing, nothing too serious. What happened?" Shepard's fingers now massaged her temples as she replied while Alenko stopped next to Doctor Chakwas.

"The beacon exploded and you were knocked out cold." Alenko recalled, pausing before saying, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have approached it. I must've activated a security field." He felt the guilt coming out as he added.

Shepard turned her head slightly to the direction of the Lieutenant. "There's no way you could've known about it, Alenko."

The corner of his mouth smiled as he acknowledged the Commander's response.

"Actually, we don't even know if that's what set it off. Alenko brought you back here while Williams and some other Marine recovered Jenkins and your unknown." The Doctor said, motioning her head towards the bed behind Shepard.

She faced Alenko as she thanked him, offering a small smile. "I appreciate it."

"I was observing your vitals and I noticed some unusual activity in your brain. Were you dreaming?" Doctor Chakwas questioned.

"I think though I can't put my mind around properly."

"Hm, I'll have to add that to the repor—" The Doctor stopped, the hissing of the med bay's doors trailing as she continued, "Oh, Captain Anderson."

Shepard stood up, walking towards the end of her bed and leaned against it. She crossed her arms as she waited for the Captain to speak.

"How's our XO holding up, Doctor?" His voice wondered.

"She's doing well, just typical headaches. Nothing to worry about."

"Very well. I'll need a moment with her." Anderson said. Doctor Chakwas acknowledged and Lieutenant Alenko saluted before the duo left the med bay.

"We'll be out in the mess hall if you need us, Captain." Alenko remarked before the hatch hissed close.

Commander Shepard got out of the leaning stance she was in and went on to stand straight in front of Captain Anderson.

He broke the silence first. "Commander, how are you?"

"I don't like anyone dying under my command, sir. And intel dropped the ball on this one. We didn't expect to find the geth." She responded, recalling the whole mission.

"Jenkins was a good Marine. He'll get a proper burial." Anderson said, with Shepard nodding in agreement. "I agree about the intel and the geth. And the report about Saren's involvement?"

"He was there, sir. He killed Nihlus." Shepard declared. "And he attempted to wipe out the colony."

"He's a very dangerous person, but we'll get to that later. What happened with the beacon?" Anderson asked, going against a bulkhead and leaned on it.

"It exploded as soon as I came in contact with it. Images filled my head, sir." She replied as she saw Anderson's brows furrow. "I saw… I'm not sure what I saw. Death? Destruction? I saw organics being slain by synthetics. Geth, maybe." She shuddered at the disturbing thoughts.

Silence fell over the two for a while. Shepard watched as Anderson move from the bulkhead and to the bed which was occupied by the man they saved in the colony. "We're going to have to report that. Saren is a threat to any human world out there. He hates humanity." Anderson asserted.

"What am I going to say? That I had a bad dream?"

"No, but the Council needs to know that Saren is dangerous and must stripped out of his Spectre status. I'll think of a way to bring it up. Just make sure to know what to say when they inquire about what happened."

"Yes, sir." It was the only thing Shepard could say. She respected the man far too much to argue for anything else. Besides, she agreed wholeheartedly.

"We're on the way to the Citadel. We'll be stuck there for a while. The Normandy needs some adjustment with the drive core and Rear Admiral Mikhailovich of the Fifth Fleet requested an inspection of the ship." Anderson said as he examined the man that lay before him. "And who is this? Williams and Alenko said he appeared out of thin air? What are they talking about?"

"We're about to find out, Captain. He didn't show up in the Eden Prime census." She said, moving towards the man also. "There was… An anomaly, as far as we know, sir. A vortex appeared and his body materialised as the hole vanished. He was in a really bad shape when we looked over him." Shepard watched Anderson give her a quizzical look.

"That'll be all for now. Williams is out on the mess hall. I think you'd want to talk to her. Other than that, just think of what to say for Saren's investigation and find out who he is so we can know what to do with him when he's able to move. And I need to know what really happened, Shepard. 'An anomaly' is not enough of an explanation as to why this man can appear out of thin air. I want good answers." Anderson pointed towards the man, his eyes filled with disbelief before he stepped out of the med bay. "If there are any." He grumbled low.

Shepard leaned to do a quick scan of the man again. She thought everything about him was odd. His clothing, his hairstyle, the two firearms with him, and his whole "out of place" vibe that he seemed to give off. Plus, the way he appeared out of nowhere was a big curiosity that piqued Shepard's mind. He's been stripped of his clothing apart from his underwear. She agreed that the man was physically fit, his body was toned even if he appeared to be slim and quite good-looking save for the patch of gauze and bandage over his wounds that revealed some absorbed blood. His facial features appeared to be a mix of Mediterranean and Malay traits, his hair was dark and currently messy, his skin was a moderate olive brown, and there was a prominent farmer's tan throughout his body. What caught her attention though, were the two pieces of rounded-edge metal pendants on his chest strung by a thin green cord that wrapped around his neck. _"Is that a necklace?"_ She thought as she held it in her hands and took a closer look. Her interest and confusion further increased as she read the tag.

"VACCARELLI

J. S.

846349 C

TYPE –O-

5.15/44

USMC"

Her mind raced at the last line. Shepard's mind immediately started to turn, her curiosity overcoming her. She looked beside this Vaccarelli's bunk, where a small table was moved. On it were the now cleaned, neatly folded uniform of the man, his helmet, and satchel. Resting against on the bulkhead nearby were his rifle and his sidearm. She grabbed the top portion of the faded green uniform and unfurled it. Her eyes were intent on finding an idea of something and she found it on the jacket's left chest flapless pocket. The initials, "USMC," were imprinted into the pocket, above a silhouette of what she could piece as a bird of some sort perched on a circle imposed on an anchor. Then it clicked, an image from her time when she in Officer Candidate School, _Eagle, Globe, and Anchor_. She stared at the jacket in wonder. Shepard took notice of the hole on the right chest of the jacket before she folded it again and placed atop the other folded clothing. She rummaged through his satchel, to look for clues for his identity further, only coming up with an array of antique copper-covered bullet cartridges held together by a strip of metal. Shepard held the block of five bullets in her hand as she examined it. It didn't look old, wasn't rusty as it should be. Then she recognised the wooden rifle- They're still used from time to time as ceremonial weapons during military parades in the United North American States units. She knew that firearms manufacturers from Earth have ceased to produce any kind of ammunition that used gunpowder since the turn of the 22nd century unless it was specially ordered. So it was no surprise that Shepard was indeed, more than curious by now. She put inside the satchel, in time to see Vaccarelli stir awake. She watched him open his eyes with interest.

Joshua was initially blinded by the lighting in the room he was now in. His mind buzzed about as he felt the coldness of the room. He tried to remember what happened and when he did, he made a conclusion that by some chance, he survived and now recovering. As he enjoyed the feeling of the now-subtle effect of whatever was in his veins, he guided his hand over his chest wound. He noticed that he was wearing nothing other than his boxers, which was now dry. _So that's why it's so cold._ He traced his hand over the bandages that covered his injuries, telling himself that he was lucky. An intruding thought entered his mind, question if McIntyre survived too. This caused him to turn his head to the left then towards the direction of his feet, only finding nothing but a brightly lit hospital bed, an odd looking door, several chairs with attached tables and weird contraptions. When he turned his head to the right, he saw a woman, and he recalled who she was through the big hazel eyes that stared into his own. He examined her quickly, trying not to be rude or suspicious. She had nearly cream white skin but was obviously lightly tanned, her face was very feminine and it reminded him of the faces that would appear on a showgirl in a war bonds ad, minus the revealing getup. Beneath her right eye is a scar, a slight horizontal gash that did nothing to deviate from her apparent natural beauty. Her hair was tied in a bun; she wore a charcoal somewhat form-fitting jumpsuit with the sleeves rolled up above her elbows, she had no makeup and she had an intrigued look on her face._ "She's quite a looker… Is she a nurse?"_ He mused.

"You're awake." The woman said.

"Where am I?" Joshua asked her as he sat up, his arms behind him, supporting him.

"I'm Commander Shepard and you are aboard SSV Normandy, an Alliance ship. You're safe here." She announced as she dragged a stool and sat next to the bed.

Her dialect made it known to him that she was probably Canadian and he concluded that he was on-board a Canadian military vessel, _an Allied vessel_, which was weird, because it wasn't in his knowledge that the Canadians were in the Pacific at all. Joshua thought that while it was odd that a woman had such a high ranking position in the Canadian Navy, he held back his opinion as he thanked the Commander. "Thank you, ma'am. This ship is swell. Didn't expect Canadian ships to be here though."

Shepard gave him a puzzled look. "You're welcome, but I need to know who you are. Your tags are not enough." She said, pointing his dog tags.

"Yes, ma'am. Private First Class Joshua Vaccarelli, USMC." He said, following her as if he was given an order, which for all he knew, she did.

"You need to more specific, Vaccarelli." She affirmed.

"Yes, ma'am. Uh, Private First Class Joshua Vaccarelli, King Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, K-3-5, First Marine Division." He recited his whole unit.

"Hm. I see." Shepard wasn't sure if he was a colonist gone insane or, by an extreme slim chance, was telling the truth. The way he appeared in front of her being the main factor, but decided that she'd need more overt proof. She didn't have to wait.

"Ma'am, I'm just really glad to be in this ritzy Canadian ship. Are we off the coast of Okinawa? How long was I out?" Joshua sincerely asked.

Shepard only stared at him; her mind starting to accept the possibility that the unexplainable happened. That part of Earth history, that specific, was now only taught at private schools, universities, and military academies. She pieced it all together, no matter how far-fetched it seemed, the way he talked, the surprised look on his face when he found out her rank, his reference to a Canadian ship, the honest expression he had when he asked about Okinawa. "When's your date of birth, Vaccarelli?" She asked to hide the rising realisation in her face.

"November 25th, 1921, ma'am." He replied, not too bothered by the Commander's ignoring of his question.

That was it, she felt she had enough. She was going to Captain Anderson with this and ask for permission to do an advanced, filtered search in the Earth Military archives. "Vaccarelli, stay here, don't move. I'll be right back. I'll just go get Captain Anderson. He's the Commanding Officer of this ship." Shepard said, standing up and leaving the med bay in a rush.

Joshua wondered why she would need to get the CO, but that thought was replaced when he saw the Commander leave the med bay through a door_ that was opening on its own, hissing, and shutting after she passed it._ His mouth hung open at the sight, flabbergasted. He imagined how advanced the technology on this ship was and how they managed to get the feeling of swaying from the rough waters seem unnoticeable. Everything was completely still, not even a slight rocking. He looked down on his wound again and being the curious kid that he always was, he poked it. He didn't feel pain. He left it to the fact that he was probably still drugged up.

It didn't take long for the Commander to come back, but this time someone was behind her. He was a tall, darker-skinned, imposing figure dressed in what he would assume, a blue dress uniform. _"Are there any negro officers on any Allied ship? Especially CO?"_ Joshua thought as he looked at him. The man stepped forward as Shepard sat down in front of those tables with a weird contraption, next to the med bay's hatch. The table glowed neon orange as Shepard tapped the surface. _That's an odd table light. _Joshua thought about what she was doing as it appeared that she was typing on a table with an orange light and looking at a barely opaque screen. His interest was cut short when the blue uniformed man stood next to him.

"I'm Captain Anderson, Commanding Officer of the SSV Normandy." He disclosed.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Joshua asked, now completely worried that something bad has come up.

"Tell me how you got here. Every detail." He requested. His voice was deep, commanding.

"Yes, sir. We were crossing a riverbed in the middle of one of those typhoons. The Japs were just recovering from our artillery's barrage, but they recovered fast and retaliated, sir. I was running up a slope when an MG nest opened fire on me and McIntyre. I rolled downhill and after a bit, something appeared in the sky. It was real confusing, sir. Looking at it gave me heebie-jeebies and I was already shot. Then suddenly I just saw white and the next thing I remember is seeing a red sky and Commander Shepard treating me. And then I was here in this spiffy Allied ship, sir." He answered, sounding clearly as he can.

Anderson caught that last line, especially that one word. "This is an_ Alliance _ship, Vaccarelli. Not Allied." He reckoned. "Systems Alliance Space Vehicle Normandy Stealth Reconnaissance-1."

"Is… Is that some Canadian-American Allied naval force, sir..?" Joshua tilted his head in complete confusion, missing the word, "space."

Captain Anderson looked at the Commander who was busy working on something; she was intently staring at the screen as her fingers danced around the table. "What year is it, Vaccarelli?" He turned to him, studying his face for any sign of duping.

"1945, sir. What's going on, sir?" Joshua replied, an evident concern in his tone.

The Captain could only look at him in disbelief as he failed to spot any sign of lying and he had been trained to handle liars extensively. As far as he can tell, he was just as confused as they are.

"Captain, I've found something. I narrowed the search to everything we have gotten from him so far. His DOB, unit, and posting. I also ran searches for the anomaly and only one came up, back in the 20th century, in the Pacific. It's highly classified. It's exactly what we saw on Eden Prime, sir. Everything he's said so far checks out." Shepard reported, her head looking away from the screen and towards the Captain. The way she said the last sentence caused Anderson to have the same feeling of creeping unsure dread that Shepard just had a few moments ago.

Anderson walked over to the terminal, telling Shepard to move so he can see the reports and files with his own eyes. It unnerved him a bit. And he was a career military man with enough medals to melt to make a statue of himself, have seen and done things a seasoned combat operator would do. And _this_ puzzled him. He turned to stare at Shepard for a while, who was sitting on a stool next to Vaccarelli, then back to the screen.

**_ "_****_Excerpt from a classified after-action report directed to Major General del Valle-_**

_-Further investigation of the battle concluded that Private First Class Vaccarelli's body was disintegrated when a mortar round landed on a Japanese explosive booby trap that the PFC's dying body covered up as he was hit by an enemy MG round. First-hand accounts of the "anomalous vortex" on both sides were dismissed as battlefield duress._

_After the Battle of Okinawa, Private First Class Joshua S. Vaccarelli is officially declared Killed-In-Action along with 12,000+ Allied troops. Case is closed and further requests for investigation will be denied."_

He then switched tabs, this time bringing up Vaccarelli's old military record in an updated, streamlined layout.

"**_Name:_**_ Joshua Santos Vaccarelli_

**_Date of Birth:_**_25-11-1921___

**_Date of Death:_**_26-5-1945 (No body recovered)_

**_Place of Birth:_**_Los Angeles, California, USA_

**_Place of Death:_**_Okinawa, Japan_

**_Height: _**_5'10 ft. / 1.78m_

**_Weight:_**_148 lbs. / 67.1kg _

**_Branch of Service:_**_Marine Corps_

**_Classification: 1-A_**"

Attached to the record was a photograph of Vaccarelli, it was in black-and-white. His hair was styled in a slight pompadour that he hasn't seen since the last period piece vid he's watched.

On the bed, Joshua watched Captain Anderson's expression of intrigue turn into something deeper. He glanced at him a couple of times as he read whatever was on the screen while Commander Shepard seemed to be in concentrated thought. "Sir, what's going on?" He begged.

Anderson finally stood up, accepting the events as reality, at least for now, with no way of being fabricated and walked next to Shepard. "Commander, are you completely certain that the anomaly is what you've seen on Eden Prime?"

Shepard stood up, her tone was positive, "Yes, sir."

"And do you believe that this is something that we have no further evidence for at the moment, except for him? Anderson related, once again pointing to Vaccarelli.

"Yes, sir." She replied.

"Very well." He said, exhaling. The Captain approached Shepard and leaned in to her ear. "We can't let this go out just yet. This man will be placed under extreme examination if we do."

"What do we do now, Captain?" Shepard whispered back.

"Proceed however you want. Just don't make him feel like a prisoner or a test subject. I'll see what I can do." He said, distancing himself from Shepard and eventually leaving the medbay.

Joshua was looking all over the room when Shepard turned to face him.

She thought of a way to break this surreal information to him, a way to not sound ridiculous to someone like him, a man from the distant past. She took note that if he was from the 21st century, it could be easier for him to accept what she was about to say. "Joshua, is it?" She asked with a friendly tone.

"Yes, ma'am. Can you tell me what happened?" He said, his hands rubbing against each other to keep himself warm.

"I have no idea how to say this properly. Or tell you this without sounding like a crazy person to you." Shepard confessed. "What year do you think it is?"

"Well, I guess based on this ship… It has to be after the war. It's over isn't it? Did we win? Is it 1946?" Joshua responded, a glint of honest hope in his eyes. "I was in a comatose, wasn't I?"

"No… but you're going to have to trust me, Joshua. That's all I'll ask of you" Shepard had a hard time saying the words. She thought about asking Alenko or Williams to do it, but then she'd have to retell the whole ordeal to them. "You were only out for a couple of hours."

After thinking if she's telling the truth about trusting her, he nodded and replied. "I guess I have no choice but to trust you."

"This is the year 2183. You are in space, far away from Earth, aboard a military vessel. You appeared in front of me on a planet named Eden Prime with a gunshot wound and a bloody, muddy uniform." It sounded better in her head. "Your weapons are right there." She said, pointing to the rifle and the pistol.

"What? What are you talking about?" Joshua implored. It was clear that he was trying to hide doubt by laughing.

"We think that the vortex that appeared over Okinawa in 1945 was a wormhole and it transported you to Eden Prime, in this year, 2183. It's the only possible explanation we can conjure. You've been declared killed-in-action back in your time. Joshua… I'm sorry." Shepard revealed. Her voice was filled with sudden pity and legitimate concern for him, which she found odd.

Joshua looked at her. Her hazel eyes told him that she wasn't lying, that she was sincere, but something worse seemed to be waiting to be said. He was silent as he kept his gaze at Shepard, his eyes and face slowly showing distress as he came to terms with the gravity of the situation. She maintained the eye contact with him when she affirmed, "You fell out of time, Joshua."

He was quiet as a chill ran up his spine. His hands started to shiver. His body seemed to resign from warming itself up; his arms flopped to his sides. Something, somewhere, told him, reassured him, and drilled into him, that this was the truth, and that he didn't further proof than what's in front of him. His face became devoid of any expression as it paled. Maybe it was the drugs in his body making him believe everything.

A tear trailed down his right eye as he kept looking at Shepard, who now held his hand in an attempt to make the situation easier to accept. Somehow, she felt what he was feeling. On all her combat tours and time spent among different ships and postings, she has never seen this kind of look from anyone. She can't put it into words.

Finally, Joshua blinked. Not knowing what to do, but was sure at the exact moment, that if he needed someone to trust, it might as well be the person that just saved his life.


	3. First Coffee in Ages

**_First Coffee in Ages_**

_That was too easy. He easily accepted. Probably still under it. The sedative will fade away any second now. I gave him too much,_ Shepard thought. And she was right.

Joshua felt the sudden rush of hurt slap his chest. He tried to maintain his face, his demeanour, avoiding yelling in pain. He separated his hand from Shepard's and the destroyed look he gave her diminished ever so slowly, replaced by his facial expression twitching as something clicked in his head. He attempted to maintain a civilised voice, keep cool as he put his hand over his aching chest wound. "Ha! Jesus, this hurts. Who put you up to this, huh?" He drawled, riding out the pain in his words, wiping his single tear away.

Shepard gave him a straight face in response.

"Really? I'm thankful for you folks saving my life and all, but to pull a prank like this? You take me for a bunny, huh?" Joshua grumbled, adjusting his position on the bed. Shepard just let him talk.

"What's the grift, pal? Someone told you I like science-fiction books? Take advantage of that, make fun of the guy that got shot? I know I shoulda never shared that picture of Elaine back at the ship. Never got it back and they bring you up here, looking like her? Even got the hair right… I just saw lots a guys get shot and you prank me." He jeered, looking at Shepard, trying to accuse her of something mentally.

"Seriously? Automatic sliding doors? A damn negro for a CO and a broad as a commander? All this spitting about space ships and the future? Joke's over, lady… It's not funny."

Shepard remained quiet; she understood how this must seem to him. _Poor bastard._

"Look, I'm all silk. I can fight. Just send me back, I don't care. This?" Joshua pointed at his injuries. "This is nothing. I'm thankful and all, but this wasn't funny." Joshua uttered. He got off the bed and ignored the pain that clamped his chest when he set his feet down.

Shepard watched him, but still did nothing. She figured that it's going to take a bit longer for the facts to get absorbed in his head. She could only imagine what he was going through by the time he got transported. Shepard had read and studied about the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War while she was still in the Naval Academy and she thought it was beyond dismal, barbaric. He was covered in blood and mud when she found him, his rifle and sidearm within reach, further placing images in her imagination. She knew that if the same thing happened to her, she would react in the same way.

Joshua moved the robotic arm that helped perform surgeries. "Let me guess, robot arm over here helped to take out the bullet that hit me? What, fix up the flesh torn off?"

Shepard moved her head in the negative. "Bullet went clean through you. We just cleaned and sealed your torso wounds. Your arm was just grazed. Everything should be fine by now."

"Fine? Then why does it still hurt?" Joshua asked her.

"It's the medi-gel repairing the tears internally."

"What the hell is medi-gel?"

"All-purpose medical salve. Instantly seals injuries from infection, allows rapid healing."

Joshua scoffed in disbelief.

"Look, I know this is very hard for you. I can only imagine what's going on in your mind after hearing something like this. I know this all hard to believe, but you have to trust me. Is there anything I can do make you believe that is real?" Shepard stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "I'll give you time to think about it. I'll be right outside, it's the mess hall. Your clothes are right there. Get dressed. The door opens on its own once you get close enough. I need you to trust me, Joshua. That's all I can promise you." She then left.

Joshua again, looked in awe as the door opened and closed on its own. He remained quiet, contemplating as he changed over to his newly-cleaned uniform. He started with a sparkling white t-shirt, new, he figured. He slid on his faded trousers, his mind picturing how clean it was compared to the filthy one he wore when he got shot. Next to his boots, which were nearly falling apart, were socks, probably a spare from someone. He was still thinking of a way to make himself believe that this isn't some dream or joke as he put on his socks and laced his boots. He took note of the two holes that were on his coat as his wore it. He leaned over and grabbed his rifle off the bulkhead, pulling the bolt back and checking if it was still loaded. It wasn't. He took his M1911, which was loaded, and stuffed it inside his satchel since he couldn't find the holster for it. Joshua ignored the helmet as he sat back down on his bed with his rifle now on his lap. With a sigh, he rested his body back down and closed his eyes from the now-dimly lit med bay, fixing his hair with his hand.

"Commander, good to see you up and about." Alenko said as Shepard stepped into the mess hall.

"How are you holding up?" Shepard asked in return, walking towards him.

"I'm good, Commander, still a bit down after what happened to Jenkins. He didn't deserve that." He looked down in respect to their fallen marine.

"Yeah, he was a young kid. Good kid. We can't linger on it though. I'll make sure that he gets a proper burial."

"Yes, ma'am. Uh, are we heading to the Citadel to discuss what happened at Eden Prime with the Council?"

Shepard nodded. "Why, Alenko? Do you have any input about it?"

"Sort of, ma'am. It's just the whole Saren thing is… I think the Council is going to protect him. He's a Spectre and they probably would avoid any smearing to their own agents, especially their best one." Alenko explained.

"Looks like you might know more about politics that I'll ever care about, Lieutenant." Shepard jokingly confessed.

"Ha, it's just a talent that I picked up from being around too many officers and politicians." He said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Williams, come here, I need to talk to you two." Shepard called out to Williams, who was leaning by a set of lockers. As she beckoned her, Shepard also told Alenko to sit down at the long table right next to them.

Gunnery Chief Williams was the marine that Shepard and Alenko came across while checking the colony of Eden Prime after they received a distress signal. The original mission was to recover the prothean beacon that exploded shortly after locating it. She fussed with her prim and proper hair bun before quickly walking towards Shepard.

"Yes, ma'am?" Williams inquired.

"Firstly, how are you, Gunnery Chief?" Shepard asked as she signalled for Williams to sit down.

"Nothing serious, just a few scrapes and burns. I feel bad about Jenkins though, ma'am. It feels like I just took his spot." Williams admitted. She crossed her fingers. "And you never get used to seeing dead civilians."

Shepard nodded, acknowledging the woman's feelings. "It's alright. And don't worry, you're a good Marine, you belong here."

Williams smiled in return. "Anything you need to discuss ma'am?"

"About that unknown in the med bay." Shepard said, causing the two to train their eyes on her. Shepard looked around and was grateful that the nearest person on the mess hall, Doctor Chakwas, was all the way to the other side, by the sleeper pods.

"The best theory we could come up is that he… Fell out of time. Sucked through that vortex." Shepard whispered. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but what else would you say about that vortex and his sudden appearance?"

"And his outfit and weapons too." Williams chimed.

Alenko gave the two a puzzled look. "What about them?"

"I went through his satchel and found a lot of what we would consider as antiques, but they looked pristine. His outfit hasn't been in circulation since the first half of the 20th. His weapons were a M1903 model and a M1911 pistol, both haven't been in production since 2050. And the way he talks… I can't even understand some of the words he said. He referred to the Captain as a negro." Shepard explained, leaning back into her seat.

"Who is he? Do we have any idea about his identity?" Alenko asked, slicking back his full head of hair.

"According to his dogtags and from what I've managed to dig up in the Earth Military Archives, he's Private First Class Joshua Santos Vaccarelli, United States Marines." Shepard firmly said.

"How is he taking this whole time jump thing?" Williams pressed as she leaned in closer.

"His best, I guess. How would you react if you got shot and woke up in the future?" Shepard sarcastically asked. "For now, I need you to be quiet about this. Anyone asks, he's a civilian with amnesia that we're dropping off at the Citadel." She said. She soon noticed the two looking at the med bay's door. "No one else knows but us, the doc, and Captain Anderson."

Joshua stood in absolute wonder as he took in the sight. Above the Commander and two people was an orange board _thing_ that glowed. Dark greys were the colour of the walls, while bright lights the lined the bulkheads made the place alive. It looked futuristic in his eyes, sure, but it still wasn't enough to convince him.

The trio looked at the stunned person that moved slowly towards them as he kept glancing at everything that he passed. Williams broke the silence by whispering, "He looks like a lost puppy." This prompted Shepard to lightly chuckle. They all observed him, examined him. His hair was now neater, hand-combed to the right side. His uniform looked baggy, but much cleaner; a stark contrast to the blood soaked one that the trio found him in.

"Commander, if I'm going to believe you, I'm gonna want everything I gotta know." Joshua said as he walked towards the three, then sitting down on the corner of the table, a small distance between himself and the trio.

Shepard smiled at Joshua for what he said. She cleared her throat. "A wormhole. That's the best thing we can come up with. Wherever you were before, you got transported to this time. It's a very hard thing to accept, I know. If you have any questions, ask. And you two,-" Shepard pointed at Williams and Alenko. "Feel free to ask questions too. We need as much information we can get from both sides as possible."

"I know what a wormhole is… I think. I've snuck into a lot of lecture halls, more than I can count. Is that the same as an Einstein-Rosen bridge?" He inquired, leaning forward and resting on his elbows.

Shepard nodded.

"Who are you two?" Joshua asked.

"I'm Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and that's Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams."

"What kinda ranks are that?" Joshua immediately asked back.

"When humanity spread out to the stars, basically one big military was set up from a lot of other nations. New ranks were established." Williams said. "I have a question for you. Where were you when you were… transported? You were bleeding and muddy."

Joshua was quiet. Footsteps became audible behind them as Doctor Chakwas started to approach them from the beckoning of Shepard, which Joshua didn't notice. The doctor sat next to Shepard. She had a datapad with her and she started to record the conversation as per the order of Captain Anderson.

Images of McIntyre getting torn apart by enemy gunfire plagued his vision, followed by him getting shot, which he winced to as he remembered. "I… I was in Okinawa. It was in May, I forgot what day. It was raining. Have been for days. We were storming this ridge and I got shot. I was in pain when I saw this black thing open in the sky. I think I passed out after I saw this white flash of light blind me. I opened my eyes and I saw the red sky and the Commander." He recalled.

"There have been no records of any major conflict in the Japanese Islands since World War Two. Were you there..?" Williams asked carefully, as she felt that she was opening up some very fresh wounds.

"Yeah… About that… If I am in the future, what happened?" Joshua asked. His face was suddenly filled with a fearful doubt, expecting the worst.

"The Japanese surrendered in August that same year. You won." Shepard said with a reassuring smile in her face.

The doctor, the Commander, the Lieutenant, and the Chief all watched as Joshua broke down. He smiled, scoffed at first and then immediately cried with tears flowing down his cheeks as he laughed. "We won? Ha, we all thought we were going to die in that ridge. I saw my best buddy get ripped apart by a Jap. I watched four Marines turn into blood and mud soup as a mortar round landed on them. And the bodies that piled so high you can use them as cover. And we won?" Joshua said, not knowing how to really react. "Wow." He cupped his face.

"Just the day before that, I killed a Jap by stabbing him in the head with my bayonet. Another Jap with a round to his head at point blank. I've lost count of how many Japs I've killed. And you're telling me we won?" He choked, tears flooding his cheeks. "They're all dead and I'm here, sitting in some so called ritzy space ship of the future. What kind of shit is this?" He finished.

The four remained quiet as Joshua poured his shock out. His hands were shaking as he wiped his tears. "How did we win?"

"By nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Alenko said in an assuring tone.

"Nuclear bomb? What?" Joshua asked.

"Very powerful bombs. Both cities were completely wiped out." Williams replied this time, feeling sorry for the man.

Joshua was quiet for a few seconds. He looked down on the table's surface, his hand were shaking. "How can I know that you're on the square?" He said and Shepard looked at him with a confused face.

"On the square?" She asked.

"Uh, telling the truth, Commander." Doctor Chakwas explained. "If those old Earth books are right."

"What can I do to make you believe?" Shepard asked him, her tone friendly.

"I want to see it. Space? Stars? Prove it. I want to walk on a big space platform and see it. I-if you have those. Do you?" Joshua sternly replied with his face buried in his hands.

"We'll find a way. Anything else you want to ask?" Shepard offered.

"Yeah, how did I get cleaned up and my dungarees and boots?" He said with a light chuckle, a bit red from slight embarrassment.

Shepard pointed to Doctor Chakwas who then said, "Don't worry, dear. It's alright."

They then discussed and brought Joshua up to date with recent events. Telling him what had happened in the past 238 years, or rather, the most important things to have occurred since he vanished from his time. Shepard could tell that Joshua was slowly accepting it; he seemed interested in asking questions, though he avoided discussing his time in the horrendous war. She related, by all means. She compared it to what she had gone through when her whole unit was wiped on the planet Akuze. Being a survivor of something remarkably traumatic tends to leave one unwilling to remember such things.

"What happened to the United States? It's still there right? I mean… You're all from Earth, right?" Joshua breathed.

"Yes, Joshua, we're human." The Commander laughed. "But I was born on a space station. And the United States you knew is now a part of United North American States." Shepard answered.

"What's that?" Joshua inquired.

"When the Systems Alliance Charter was ratified, a lot of countries merged into one. For example, UNAS consists of Mexico, Canada, and your United States."

Joshua then asked about the events that piqued his interest.

"What do you mean by Second American Civil War? There was another one?" Joshua asked bewildered.

"Around 2096, the USA, Canada, and Mexico united into the UNAS, but secessionists opposed the union. Eventually, this secessionist group called Freedoms First seized Liberty Island in New York and they destroyed the Statue of Liberty." Williams explained.

Joshua was left with an open mouth. "What the fuck?!" He retorted.

"Yeah, it was the first of November. A few days later, war was declared. It ended quick." Ashley found some amusement to this. She never thought she'd have to tell about the beginning of the Second American Civil War to anyone that wasn't a child in school. "You can find out more about it if you do some research."

Joshua was silent for a while, taking in the entire sudden information dump on him. "Is there any way that I can read about human history, everything that I missed?"

_It seems like he's starting to accept the idea_, Shepard mused.

"Yeah, we can get you on a terminal or on an omni-tool." Alenko moved his wrist, showing where an omni-tool would be.

"What's an omni-tool?" Vaccarelli asked curious.

"This." The Lieutenant clenched his fist twice and the omni-tool lit up a bright orange over his forearm.

To Joshua, it was pure magic. A semi-solid, neon orange gauntlet materialised out of nowhere and was actually touchable. It was a cylindrical shape that covered the forearm, extending towards the hand into a small turntable-like console. It was still all somewhat see-through and Joshua couldn't wrap his mind around it. "What the hell? How does that work?"

Shepard tried to hide her smile at the sight of a grown man being fascinated with something so common to everybody else. "It's a bracelet that you wear, in it includes a computer microframe, a sensor analysis pack, and a mini-fabricator that allows activation on whatever hand motion you prefer from the options. Mine works by squeezing my thumb inside a fist." Shepard demonstrated and her omni-tool came about as well. "The fabricator rapidly makes an all-purpose computer and tool in one."

She tapped on the holographic interface and a screen came up. "See, it's possible to use it as a camera." Shepard then brought her wrist in front of Joshua's face, who then looked into the screen and saw his face.

"That's a mirror." Joshua said confused.

Everyone on the table stifled a laugh.

"It's a front-facing camera. For video journals and the like." Shepard explained, lightly chuckling.

"Wow." That was all he could reply.

"And Joshua?" Shepard called to him.

"Yes, Commander?"

"We don't use the word, 'negro,' anymore. That's discrimination. So is treating women lesser than men. Humanity as a whole has come far in terms of tolerance. We don't tolerate racism or sexism. Especially in the Alliance." Shepard explained to the man whose environment was not of the best in terms of treatment of others.

"Oh." Joshua stopped to take the revelation in. "It's gonna take some getting used to, but I think I can get around to that with no issues." He said, slightly embarrassed. "I knew some black fellas who were segregated away from us. They fought just as hard when they were pushed to. I think I can get used to this whole tolerance thing easy."

"You guys were segregated cause of colour?" Williams asked with a confused look.

"They don't teach you about those days when they separated just about everybody?" Joshua asked back quizzical. "Hell, I was lucky I passed for a cracker thanks to my papa. My sister and my ma weren't treated so hot sometimes." He said with disdain.

Shepard knew that for him, it might get tricky getting rid of the words and mannerisms common to him, but are considered to be deplorable in today's standards. He did appear to be open to changing his ways.

Joshua crossed his arms, suddenly in deep thought. He was thinking to himself that maybe he didn't need to see stars or the emptiness of space. There was no way that something like an omni-tool could exist in his time. Maybe it could in pulp comic books sold by a guy in a stand around the corner from his house, but not in reality.

Then he thought about his family. Elaine. They would all be dead now, buried in a cemetery on a planet that was beyond distant to where he was. Was he going to be able to visit their graves? Was her mother's authentic Filipino cuisine mini-restaurant still in business? Joshua quickly became sombre at his thoughts. He suddenly felt alone in the table surrounded by the people who saved his life.

"What's going to happen to me?" He turned to Shepard.

She didn't want to scare him, but at the same time, she didn't want to lie for there was no purpose. No one else knows about him for the moment. "We'll have to put you through a modified quarantine. Vaccinate you, teach you, and hopefully, assimilate you. We'd have to treat you under First Contact Protocols."

"First Contact Protocols?" He asked.

"It's a set of guidelines that all Citadel Council races use to deal with an alien race we haven't had contact yet. The idea is to establish communication, start a rapport, and an eventual welcome into the galactic community." Shepard explained.

Joshua looked around the table, glancing at Alenko, Williams, Chakwas, then back to Shepard. "That leaves me more questions than answers, Commander." He said, burying his face into his hands. "Aliens? Council?"

"Short story or long?" Shepard offered.

"Short. Maybe I'll read up on everything later."

"When humanity started to spread out, we accidentally entered a war with a race called the turians. That led to us being allowed into the galactic community overseen by the Citadel Council. They consist of the asari, turians, and salarians. Humanity has an embassy at the Citadel. It's only been 26 years since we've been inducted into the Citadel community."

Vaccarelli found some resolve, but saw it as still lacking. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to do some more reading."

Just then, Captain Anderson walked into the mess hall and stood at the end of the table. Everyone stood up except the doctor. "Alenko, Williams, head up to the bridge to check on Joker. We're closing in on the Citadel."

With that, the duo saluted, faced about, and proceeded on their way. Doctor Chakwas sensed that the remaining ones would want privacy and promptly left as well, taking her datapad with her.

"How are you holding up, Marine?" He asked, his voice deep.

"Swell, skipper." Joshua replied to the imposing man.

"Good to know," He turned to face Shepard, "I just spoke with Admiral Hackett. He's the commander of the Fifth Fleet, Vaccarelli."

Shepard and Joshua looked at the Captain.

"For now, the best course of action is to keep you with us. We can't let you off ship, not until we vaccinate you properly. We'll keep on looking on a way to help with your assimilation, but you'll have to remain a secret, we don't know the kind of parties that would be interested in time travellers. So that means we'll need you to cooperate, Vaccarelli."

"You got it, Captain." Joshua quickly responded.

Anderson nodded in agreement. "We'll be docking in about thirty minutes. You can stay in the room behind the medbay. It's a lab, but I don't think it's seen much use since this ship's inauguration. If you need a bunk, there's about three of them in the medbay itself. Get comfortable, Marine, might be aboard for a while."

Joshua's Marine mind-set took over and he responded accordingly. "Aye-aye, sir."

He could protest, but he chose not to, seeing as he wouldn't know what to ask for anyway.

"Anything you might need, Vaccarelli?" Anderson offered.

Joshua thought about it for a second, then he decided on something that could be useful to him. "I'd like one of those omni-tools, sir."

"We'll try to get you one." He turned to Shepard. "A word?"

Vaccarelli left the two, feeling that the Commander and the Captain wanted an exchange between themselves, which he didn't mind. He was still partially in deep thought as he watched the medbay door hiss open.

Doctor Chakwas was on a computer terminal on the further side of the medbay. She acknowledged Joshua's presence by nodding her head towards him and then she returned her attention back to her terminal. On her screen was a diagnostic file for the time-displaced man. Her finger clicked against the haptic keyboard, inputting more information about Vaccarelli. She took note of his immediate curiosity and willingness to know his new surroundings, she also noticed that he hasn't shown any signs of any form of battle duress, though she hypothesised that he's still in a state of shock and it's his war-fighter mind-set that's allowing him to take in a begrudging amount of foreign information with little difficulty.

Joshua wore his satchel over his torso and picked up his rifle from the bunk where he recovered. "Doctor? Where's the lab?" He asked as he slung his rifle by his shoulder.

"It's right behind me, dear." She replied in a motherly tone.

He walked towards the automatic doors and they hissed open. "The Captain said I might have to be on this ship for a time and that I'll be getting vaccinations?" Joshua inquired.

"Yes, I'll have them ready for you in a moment." She paused. "I'll also have to interview you for our records."

"Interview? Like a movie star?"

"If you want to look at it that way, yes. We need to record your side of the time-jumping experience." Chakwas smiled at the confused man. "So if you happen to remember anything more than what you've told us, let us know."

"Got it, ma'am." He said back as he entered the lab.

Joshua waited for the door to hiss shut before looking around the room. It seemed dank, dim, and it appeared to be more of a storage room than a proper laboratory. There was a long table bolted on the bulkhead to the left, littered with various vials, flasks, books, pens, and notepads that had transparent screens. Joshua recognised a lone terminal in the middle of it, similar to the one that Shepard and Chakwas used. It wasn't placed properly, seemingly crooked compared to the uniform appearance of everything on the table. He approached it, leaned his rifle against the table and adjusted the terminal to be parallel to the edge. The shelves were also packed with the same materials on the table. He couldn't really discern a difference between the appearances of the cylinders with some sort of purple liquid inside, there was at least five of them scattered all over the table and the shelves.

There was a small lamp-looking object that got his interest. He reached out for it, tried to look for a switch or button, but couldn't find any. Eventually giving up, he placed his hand on what probably was the bulb and as soon as his palm landed on the surface of it, the lamp turned on. He sniggered at the light that now filled the room with an acceptable amount of illumination.

Alongside the right bulkhead were crates that looked like blocks of metal. Joshua approached them, counting at least ten. Two crates were stacked on top of four, leaving another four lined against the bulkhead. Out of habit of securing a sleeping spot, Joshua reached out and started to push one of the crates aside, then another, and then pull another, disregarding the screeching and scraping of the metal against the deck. Eventually, he made a divider between the spot he'd decided to be his space and the exit. As his chest started to throb with pain again at the sudden exertion, he found it acceptable as good cover and concealment should he need it.

Satisfied, he went behind his recently-made wall, placed his satchel down, and sat against the wall, his rifle leaning next to him. He took a deep breath and held it in for a full ten seconds before exhaling. His hands went up to his face and wiped it down. He looked up to the ceiling, ignoring the protruding cylindrical vents, instead focusing on a dim light.

And he let his tears finally fall.

"Alliance R&D sensors detected a large explosion at the place where you found the beacon, Commander. A few minutes before the actual beacon destruction." Anderson said to Shepard.

"Explosion? There wasn't any explosion outside of the beacon itself." She replied, confused.

"It was a massive one. That's why they were able to detect it from Arcturus. They were saying that that much energy was at least an equivalent to a supernova. Are you sure there isn't anything you might've missed, Shepard?" He questioned as he was crossing his arms.

"No, Captain. All there was is the anomaly, then a flash of light, and then Vaccarelli." Her eyebrows furred.

"If Alliance R&D detected that, that means other parties would've too. All the more reason to keep his existence a secret for the time being."

"I was afraid of that." Shepard admitted.

Anderson became quiet; he truly didn't know what to do. There were no answers anywhere, only questions that piled on top of each other.

"What do we do, Captain?"

He cleared his throat. "Same as I've told you. First Contact Protocols, treat him like a human. Treat him as you would a marine who was MIA."

At least, Anderson thought, that it would be of somewhat ease to communicate with Vaccarelli. He was a military man after all, a marine on a naval ship. In his mind, to treat him as a test subject to be poked and examined would do more harm than good.

"Aye, sir." Shepard responded.

"You watch over him, Commander. I'll inform you of any updates." Anderson said in a relaxed way.

"I will, Captain."

Anderson then left, though Shepard felt like he wanted to say a few more words before departing.

The Commander started to make her way to the central lift, remembering to get an omni-tool for Vaccarelli. A serviceman was inside the elevator when she got there.

"Good morning, ma'am." The man said, saluting and holding it.

Shepard then returned the salute, "Good morning." She replied, pressing the button to go to the cargo hold.

The elevator then slowly descended, giving the two inside a moment of awkward silence. She always hated the Normandy's lift, it was far too snail-like and every time more than one person uses it, they were faced with an unbearable ten seconds of silence.

The doors hissed open and Shepard stepped out with the serviceman. She headed straight for the requisitions officer who was to her right while the sailor went to the engine room. "Hey, Charlie." She greeted him. He had his back turned to Shepard, he turned around, not being used to being called by his first name.

"Oh, Commander." The requisitions officer said surprised, quickly snapping to attention and saluting.

"Relax, lieutenant." She replied, saluting back with a smile.

"What can I do for you, Commander?" He relaxed, slightly leaning back.

"Do we have any omni-tools on stock?" Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow.

The quartermaster then turned around, immediately checking the supply crates. "Ammo blocks, MREs, Doc's supplies…" He trailed off, moving his head.

He pulled a small crate from behind the ammo block box; it looked like a small footlocker, ultimately small in size compared to the bigger containers around the quartermaster. "We only have Bluewires by Aldrin Labs, Commander. Alliance standard issue. Has all of the basic functions." The RO said with an intonation of a merchant on an extranet advertisement.

"That's good. I already know that, Charlie." Shepard replied.

"Oh, of course, Commander, you N7-types probably get the high-end stuff like Savants from Serrice Council or Logic Arrests from Ariake Technologies." He said while placing his hand on his face.

Shepard gave him a light chuckle. It was true. Usually all special forces operators opted for higher-end gear, preferably more efficient and powerful than the usual standard issued ones. This sometimes meant using credits out of their own pocket in order to acquire what they needed. For herself, she actually has a Logic Arrest omni-tool, cost her at least three months' worth of credits. She needed it for her tech skills as a trained Sentinel specialist; the computing power of the Logic Arrest suited her needs perfectly. "Yeah, I actually have a Logic Arrest."

"Makes sense, Commander. Anyway, this is gonna cost you about 200 credits." The quartermaster said, showing the omni-tool bracelet to Shepard.

"Since when did they start charging for standard issue gear?" She questioned. When Shepard started out, everything was issued to her with no charge.

"Gunnery Chief Williams already had her gear replaced, these ones left aren't actually meant for our guys here." He explained.

"What?"

"They're from my personal cache, Commander. Sometimes guys lose or break their stuff and I go out and buy some of them with my own money then I sell them with at least a ten or twenty percent markup." He rubbed the back of his head as he told the Commander his little business. "It's an easy replacement and they don't have to file for lost gear and wait weeks or months to get a reimbursement."

"Not exactly legal, is it?" Shepard chided jokingly.

"Not exactly written in any law, Commander." He nervously replied.

"Yeah, well, just keep it on the hidden side, okay?" Shepard watched him nod. "I might need your services sometime, then. You know, N7 and all." She added, joking.

"Would that be all, Commander?" He said lowly.

"Got an MRE?"

He quickly turned around, reached into the largest crate out of them all, and fished out a MRE the size of a hardcover book. "Meatballs, beef and rice." He handed the ration to him.

Shepard then booted up her omni-tool and noticed that the requisitions officer's hand was trembling. She knew exactly what she was doing.

The quartermaster nervously nodded as he watched Shepard fiddle with her omni-tool to transfer 200 credits from her account to his. She took the bracelet and the MRE, and then he watched her walk back into the elevator. He knew that the Commander was a pretty lax and laid-back officer, but he couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by her. It wasn't every day that anyone the Alliance military comes across a 29-year old Lieutenant Commander, an N7 too, and then be allowed to continue non-official business. He gave off a sigh and returned back to his duties.

Once she was back on quarter deck, Shepard trudged off to grab a tray from a locker near the mess table, and poured a hot cup of coffee in a small container. She wasn't sure how Joshua liked his coffees, so she went on ahead and grabbed two packets of sugar and two sachets of cream. She placed the coffee and the packets on the tray, walked back to the mess table, laying the tray on it. Shepard then pulled the MRE out of her cargo trousers' pocket, opened it, and then started to prepare it. Within a short moment the tray was a complete hot meal, albeit most of it is military packaged, meaning they were packed a while ago and made to last long missions on all Alliance vessels.

With the tray in her hands, she entered the medbay, greeting the doctor on her terminal, typing away. "Hey, doc. Bringing chow to our time-jumper there. How's he doing?" She asked the aged professional.

"Doing good, I suppose. He did move around some of the storage crates earlier. Caused a bit of a racket, but other than that, he seemed quiet and kept to himself. I think he needs some time alone either way, gather his wits." The doctor related.

"Hm, okay. Well, I'll talk to you in a bit." Shepard said, turning to face the door to the lab.

"Shepard, dear, wait." Chakwas called out.

The doctor stood up, walked to a shelf above the bunks and procured an aluminium container. She placed it next to her terminal and opened it, revealing an arranged set of syringes and small bottles. "Standard package for any space-bound human. I took his vitals earlier while he was incapacitated and he seemed no different from any of us. Although he's a little on the malnourished side, but considering his origin, I'm not surprised." She started to fill up the syringes using the bottles. "All of these vaccines should cause him no ill effect. I'm more concerned about his mental health than his physical." By the time she was done, there were at least seven syringes all ready for use. She placed the syringes on the tray, lining them up parallel to the main entrée.

"You want me to do the shots, doctor?" Shepard asked.

"Well, you're also a trained medical specialist, aren't you?" Chakwas inferred with a slight grin, handing her some surgical gloves that came with the container.

Before she earned the N7 designation, Shepard did enlist in the Alliance Marines as a W5, a medic by all means.

Shepard took the gloves, stuffed it in her pocket and shook her head gently with a smile as she proceeded into the lab. "You got me there." She remarked.

The Commander was greeted with the crude barrier made of storage crates.

Joshua was resting his head on his satchel, which became soft enough to lie down on after taking out the sidearm inside and placing it next to the leaning rifle. On his mind were the thoughts of home and the constant attempts of trying to swallow his new reality. He heard the door hiss open and he immediately sprung up, not minding the burning sensation on his chest when moved his arms as support. He quickly grabbed his M1911 and held it close as he backed himself up against the crates facing his wall, where his rifle was within a short arm's reach.

"Joshua, are you awake?"

He heard her boots hit the cold deck and saw her head peek over his self-made wall.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm over here." Vaccarelli replied, making eye contact with the Commander.

"What's with the mini-fort?" Shepard curiously asked.

"Cover and concealment." Joshua stated with some embarrassment.

Shepard suppressed a chuckle. "Expecting any hostile action? Looks like you're ready to engage." She said, motioning to his sidearm with her eyes.

"Not too sure what to really think, still. Y'all could be aliens in disguise, using my imagination as a drawing board to copy your disguises." He explained, trying to hide his flushing cheeks. He knew he sounded like a scared child after watching a movie that his mother warned him not to see.

"What gave you that idea?" Shepard tilted her head in light beguilement.

Joshua then lowered his pistol to the floor next to him. "Pulp comic from a diner…" He replied, almost whispering, realising how ridiculous he must be sounding right now.

She walked around the barrier, set down the tray, and sat across him. "Hungry?" Shepard asked, gently pushing the tray closer to Joshua.

"Yes, ma'am." He timidly replied. To a starved marine who's been eating blocks of ration made for the First World War, the prepared MRE looked like a serving from an exquisite restaurant. It was a hot meal as well. In his eyes, it was perfection. He reached out, grabbing the plastic spoon and immediately digging into the rice, followed by a meatball, and a helping of the beef.

"Whoa, take it easy now." Shepard told him with amusement.

"Yes, ma'am." Joshua responded with a mouthful of rice and beef. He slowed down, though just a little. He savoured every scoop of the warm food, started chewing slower. He ended up groaning out of satisfaction.

Shepard looked on still amused, his reaction to subpar MREs reminding her of herself when she finished the Hell Week stage of Interplanetary Combatives Training. Within which she and her fellow candidates were rewarded with an MRE after surviving on nutrient paste and water for a whole seven days of intensive physical exertion. _"Starve a man enough, he'll eat his own shit and seek seconds." _She recalled one of her instructors saying on the third day of Hell Week.

She watched him swallow bite after bite before he finally picked up the container with coffee in it. "Is this a cup of joe, ma'am?" He asked her while taking the lid off and taking a whiff.

"Yes, it is. There's cream and sugar right there." She pointed out. "I don't know how you take yours."

"Always black and two sugars." Joshua then grabbed the packets labelled, 'sugar,' ripped the top off and poured it in. He used his spoon to swirl the coffee around carefully and once he felt that it was mixed up enough, took a slow sip. "Hell's bells, this is amazing!" He gasped.

"Glad you liked it." Shepard told him as she fished the surgical gloves out of her cargo trousers' pocket. She held off on telling him that MREs are the standard food aboard Alliance vessels.

"Thank you for the grub, ma'am. Haven't had a spoon-fed chow in three weeks." He paused as something clicked in his mind. His smile somewhat diminished, but kept it up. "I guess you could make that two hundred thirty plus years." He said, taking another sip of the coffee before returning to his meal.

Shepard slipped on the gloves, made sure they were snug, and then inched forward to pick up one of the syringes. "Remember those vaccinations that Captain Anderson said we'd have to give you?" She said, picking the syringe labelled, 'SET #1.'

Joshua then looked at the needle which seemed to shimmer from the dim lighting. "Oh. Now?" He asked with a hint of distaste.

"Yeah, now." Shepard laughed.

"I'm no fan of needles, ma'am." He said, gulping down a sip of coffee and setting it down on the tray, remembering his injections at the processing station for his enlistment.

"You won't feel a thing. Technology's advanced." She assured him, holding his arm.

Joshua watched as the syringe plunge into his bicep. His eyes shot wide open at the sudden pricking feeling.

"I lied." Shepard pulled the needle out, placed it back on the tray and grabbed another one.

He gave her a half-hearted smile as he held up his arm by himself. "Let's just get it over with." Joshua said disappointed. He shifted his eyes to the ceiling and focused on the vents.

Even though he tried to distract himself, he felt each needle pierce his bicep. She didn't inject them all at the same spot, preferring to go in a circular pattern, but his bicep was starting to feel bruised. Three shots, four, five. "How many are there, Commander?" Joshua asked, concerned.

"Almost done."

When the last needle left his skin, Shepard gave him a light pat on his shoulder. "You're good." She said with a small smile as she took off her gloves.

Joshua finished off his meal as Shepard dumped the syringes and her gloves in a chute near the exit. She returned right away and resumed to her place opposite of him. He had his container of coffee in his hands, absorbing the heat. His bicep was tender to the touch and it felt odd every time he moved his right arm when he took a sip.

"When was the last time you had coffee?" Shepard asked him.

"238 years ago." He deadpanned.

She gave him a look that seemed to ask, "Really, now?"

"No, I think it was the day before we disembarked for Okinawa." He took another sip and savoured the warm feeling that worked its way down. "Best coffee I've tasted, because I thought I wasn't going to taste it again."

"How's the coffee now?" Shepard asked him with a friendly smile.

He felt a fuzzy feeling as he downed another sip. A warmth started to shroud him. He thought it could be the vaccines all suddenly in his system or the coffee spreading its heat from his stomach.

"Coffee's great." He weakly smiled back.

_"__Disengaging FTL drive."_ The PA system announced as the ship shuddered lightly. _"Approaching mass relay."_

Shepard stood up and reached out a hand to Vaccarelli. "You want your proof that we're in space?"

Joshua looked up at her and slowly nodded. "Yeah, might as well." He said, taking her hand and pulling himself up.


	4. Any Bonds Today?

**_Any Bonds Today?_**

He couldn't keep his head still as he darted his vision from side to side, taking in the environment around him as they walked through the command deck. As soon as they reached the upper deck through the winding flight of stairs, the first thing that Joshua took notice of was the holographic galaxy map that was in the heart of the entire commanding area. It swirled ever so slowly and it mesmerised him enough that Shepard had to edge him on to keep moving towards the bridge. He moved at a snail's pace as he absorbed the view of crewmembers dancing their fingers away on their respective terminals. Even though he knew that what they were doing were beyond his understanding for the moment, it became apparent to him that this ship required a lot of manpower to sail.

"Commander, you say this is a ship, how come I haven't seen any portholes anywhere? You said we were just in the quarter deck, below us, but there weren't any." Joshua inquired to Shepard who was ahead of him.

"The Normandy is a stealth frigate, made to be quick, efficient, and be out of a zone before anyone knows we're there. Besides, transparent panes are a structural weakness." She explained. "We only really have one porthole. It's a viewport on the bridge." Shepard then beckoned for him to go faster.

Some of the crewmembers gave Joshua odd looks, though most of them seemed too wired in to their duties to pay him any attention.

Ahead of them were Williams and Alenko, standing behind the Flight Lieutenant who was the pilot of the ship. Joshua came up just in time to hear him. "Well, size isn't everything." The pilot remarked.

"Why so touchy, Joker?" Williams teased.

Alenko turned around to acknowledge Shepard and Vaccarelli's presence on the bridge.

"I'm just saying, you need firepower too." Joker fired back at the Gunnery Chief. "Oh, hey, Commander, just in time. I'm about to dock in to the Citadel."

Williams gave Joshua a light smile before turning back around.

"Well, Vaccarelli, there's the viewport, you ready?" Shepard asked, pointing out the transparent pane that surrounded the field of view of the pilot.

He was speechless as he shuffled forward, his boots lowly squeaking against the deck. Williams moved aside and allowed him to press up his hand to the surface of the pane. His mouth was left half-agape as his skin bristled. His hairs stood on their end when he tried to fathom the awesome and spectacular view that he was taking in. Joshua felt a mix of wonder and melancholia as his eyes focused on the structure that was in the centre of a purple hued cosmic mist.

"That's the Citadel. The heart of the galaxy." Shepard watched the awestruck man.

His breath was held, seemingly having a difficult time just understanding the panorama on the other side of the viewport. His heart thumped while he watched the space vessels move about like ships peeling out of harbour. Joshua's eyes widened as he took notice of the largest vessel out of them all. Its appearance reminded him of a flattened aircraft carrier, with elongated fins, though he couldn't actually word a description. It was simply alien in design to him.

"That's the Destiny Ascension, Vaccarelli. Flagship of the Citadel fleet." Williams shared to him.

"Jesus, take a gander at that. It's massive!" Joshua exclaimed.

"Haha, yeah, it is." Williams looked on amused.

Shepard found it somewhat heart-warming to see him excited and giddy to the point where he reminded her of a kid buying candy on their own for the first time.

"How many crewmen are aboard that?" He asked, toning down his excitement.

"Around ten-thousand." Alenko butted in.

"Golly…" Was all Joshua could muster to say as he kept on looking.

However, something pierced the time-jumper's vision when he refocused his eyes back to the Citadel. Joshua's vision clouded up and was suddenly inundated with a blazing orange sky, the sound of unsettling screaming. Then came the thick mechanic groan, a debilitating scrape comparable to nails on a chalkboard. A large figure seeped in, a terrifyingly sized metal… Cuttlefish. It levitated off a field, disappearing into a looming darkness.

His head started to throb and he stifled a grunt, feeling like he was witnessing in person what he was visualising. A planet came into his vision, before he got flung back, and saw the celestial body in its entirety. It was on fire, while the dark space around it seemed to pull it into a blackening void and as quickly as it came up, the vision disappeared.

Joshua took a step back, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to recover from the bombardment of images. He swallowed his breath. Shepard noticed.

"You okay, Joshua?" She asked.

He tried to understand what just happened, but he couldn't fathom the words to explain it. "Yeah… I'm all silk." Joshua ran his hand through his hair, lying, seeing as he wouldn't make sense.

Joshua returned his attention to the vista, pushing the troubling vision aside, but making a mental note to bring it up later. He glanced again towards the Citadel in the distance, which was quickly getting bigger as the Normandy zoomed in closer. Though this time, there was no vision.

"Glad to see our stray is up and about, Commander." Joker remarked as he swiped across his control panel. "So any introductions?"

Shepard placed her hand on Joshua's shoulder and squeezed gently to get his attention. "Vaccarelli, this is Flight Lieutenant Moreau, or as we like to call him, 'Joker.'" She said. "Joker, this is Vaccarelli, a valued guest that's going to be staying with us indefinitely, play nice." The Commander quipped.

"Hey, nice to meet you, pal." Joshua extended his hand.

Joker turned around to take a look at him and lightly tapped the hand back. "You too, Vac." He quickly returned to his console and pressed a button on one of the panels. "Citadel Control, Citadel Control, this is SSV Normandy requesting a vector and a berth."

Joshua returned his attention to the viewport and disconnected from everything around him for the time being, his mind quickly reviewing the vision even though he didn't want to.

"Alright, listen up." Shepard called to the other two with her on the bridge. "As soon as we dock in to the Citadel, we're going to the embassy to meet up with the ambassador."

Williams listened on while Alenko winced slightly. He had no good words for the ambassador for humanity, Donnel Udina.

She closed in, lowering her voice. "Captain ordered to have at least one escort at all times for him." Shepard motioned her head to Joshua. "He's a VIP, we don't know what he's capable of or if anyone might be looking for him."

"Looking for him, Commander?" Williams asked.

"His grand entrance gave off an energy reading of a supernova according to the sensors all the way from Arcturus Station." She whispered. "It's only a matter of time until someone questions what happened at Eden Prime and I'm not too confident that a prothean beacon exploding would suffice."

Unbeknownst to her, Joshua once again felt a strong pang of pain pierce his head a second at the mention of the word, 'prothean.' It was gone in a flash and he thought it was merely an aftershock of his earlier episode.

Shepard paused for a quick second before returning back to her words. "Ambassador Udina wants us to be there, help make a better case for the Council's silence on a fallen major human colony. But I need a volunteer to stay with Vaccarelli. Which one of you wants it?"

There was a short silence. The idea of escorting around a human that barely had knowledge of anything modern wasn't exactly enticing- though the idea of prancing around the likes of crude politicians wasn't any better. It was the Gunnery Chief who spoke up first. "I'll do it, ma'am."

"You sure, Williams?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm not looking forward to dealing with politicians anyway." She replied firm.

"Alright. It's set. LT, you're coming with me to meet up with Captain Anderson as we dock. Wait for me in the cargo hold." The Commander nodded to Alenko as he proceeded to walk off down the command deck.

She turned to Williams. "Brings me to you, Gunnery Chief." Shepard paused, glancing at Vaccarelli again before returning to her. "Your first order then would be to guard him with your life, though I doubt it'll come to that. And maybe help him on the assimilation phase. He's human shot ahead two centuries, remember that so… take it easy."

"Aye-aye, ma'am."

"Doctor Chakwas wants him back to the medbay in a few to interview him. Take him there as soon as I disembark with the shore party. I think we'll only have a skeleton crew aboard by then. Captain gave them a short liberty." Shepard relayed to her. Williams looked a little disappointed that she's missed out on the short liberty. "I'll make sure to add this to your libo hours someday, Gunnery Chief." She assured her, showing empathy.

"Alright, I'll be off to the cargo hold." Shepard walked up to the still stunned Vaccarelli. "Hey, I'm going to have to leave you for a bit. Important meeting at the Citadel."

She turned around, started heading down the pathway before feeling up her cargo trousers' pocket and realising that the omni-tool she meant to give Joshua was still there. Shepard took the bracelet out and quickly jogged back to Joshua, who was starting to turn away from the viewport.

"Back so soon, Commander?" Williams quipped.

Shepard shook her head and held out her hand to Joshua. "Almost forgot. Omni-tool." She said, putting on the bracelet to his wrist. "Paid for it myself. Consider it my welcoming present." The Commander smiled, securing the omni-tool on.

"Thanks, but I don't have the slightest idea on how to use this." He conceded, looking at his wrist.

"I can help you find your way around it, Vac." Williams offered.

Joshua suddenly felt a droning feeling after hearing another person call him by, 'Vac.' The ones who called him that, he realised, were nothing more than names on graves. At least that's what he had hoped. "Thanks, Gunnery Chief." He mustered a smile to stave off the isolation that was creeping up him.

"All right, that's it. I'll see you guys in a few." Shepard patted Williams and lightly beamed at Vaccarelli, trying to make him relaxed as she noticed that he obviously forced a smile at a simple pet name. "You can contact me through your omni-tool. I trust that Williams here will teach you how."

Instead of asking how something like that could possibly work, Joshua nodded his head in affirmation and watched as Shepard jog down the command deck.

"Wait, she told me that the disembarking area is right there." Joshua pointed to the sealed hatch not too far from the bridge. "An airlock or something, so why were they headed to this cargo hold?"

"The Captain wanted them in hardsuits and armed. If that Saren turian wanted to destroy one of our colonies, it wouldn't be a farfetched idea that he'll come after the ones who stopped his plan for Eden Prime." Williams explained, her tone made it obvious the loathed this Saren.

"Eden Prime… That's the planet you fellas found me on, right?" Joshua asked.

Williams could only nod.

After watching the docking of the Normandy at the Citadel, the Captain, Shepard and Alenko breezed by the bridge saying a quick, 'We'll be back,' to Joshua who chose to remain at the bridge a little longer. Williams was nearby, leaning on a beam, observing him. He was mostly quiet, only having a few exchanges with Joker- though from watching the pilot and the time-jumper interact, she can tell that a rapport was quickly building, as the two seemingly shared a somewhat cynical sarcastic way of speaking and view on things. She listened on as another exchange started.

"Man, hope you're not gonna be here long for your sake, food's terrible." Joker remarked, finally relaxing as well as he could on a military-designed pilot's seat.

"I've had rations for the past year or so, mighty sure I'll be fine." Joshua returned.

"Top-of-the-line ship like this, you'd expect at least a burger with actual cow meat." The pilot sighed. "I just missed the taste of a real meat patty from a real dead cow."

Joshua raised an eyebrow at the idea of 'unreal' dead cow meat. "Yeah, well, I want a pizza from this joint by Fifth on the Pershing Square in Los Angeles." Even though he just ate the MRE, the thought of having actual pizza made his mouth water.

"So, I'm guessing you're from Earth then." Joker guessed.

"Yeah, born and raised." Joshua replied, finding it a little unnerving to hear a human make an implication that he could be born on a different planet and not mean it as a joke.

"When's the last time you saw an actual cow? You know, non-atrophied from being on spaceships for too long."

Joshua did remember, though he didn't think if it'd reveal that he was a time-displaced person. "A few months ago in Australia, a ranch outside of Sydney had a load of cows. Dairy and regular cattle." He relayed, reminiscing.

"You were in Australia?" Joker asked.

"Yeah, had a short liberty before we headed towards Okinawa." Joshua said sombre.

"Geez, you make it sound like you guys travelled in sailboats." Joker commented. "Didn't know you're Alliance though. Marine or sailor?"

Joshua paused, unsure how to answer. He was a marine, no doubt, but he wasn't sure if the title still applies to a different military body.

Williams then interfered. "Yeah, he's a marine." She gave a supporting glance to Joshua.

"Probably shouldn't even ask why you're dressed like a really ancient marine and found unconscious on a human colony. I know the answer anyway." Joker said with a grin.

"Okay, I'll bite, what's the answer?" Joshua asked curious, but cautious, not excited to allow others about his situation.

"Give a marine drinks on a liberty and you might as well file an AWOL form." Joker deadpanned.

Joshua quickly remembered that such things did happen in Sydney.

"Got that right on the nose." He said, confirming the phenomenon.

Other crewmembers started to peel off from their stations, somewhat ecstatic for a short shore leave. Joshua had just found out that the small-knit ship recently lost a marine on the same planet he was found on. His name was Corporal Richard L. Jenkins, they said. He felt a tad guilty even though he had no idea or control over his death.

Not too long later, Joshua and Williams said their goodbye to Joker as he also got up and decided to spend an hour or two out of the ship; though as his got up, his Vrolik syndrome became apparent through his severe limp and slow gait. Joshua wanted to ask him, but Joker explained it as soon as he noticed him with a quizzical look on his face. "I have moderate to severe brittle-bone disease, but you know, technology made me live. I probably wouldn't have survived past childbirth if I was born a hundred or so years ago."

Joshua didn't have to ask what effects come with a disease named, 'brittle-bone.' His mind chewed up the thought of this time fixing the biggest issues of his period. If a disease like Joker's was treatable and allowed him to function as an adult human, he thought of the things that the present medical technology could imply. He had so many questions that he wanted answered, but he held off on asking them, waiting until a good and proper time to do so.

After the last crewmember left the Normandy for liberty, Williams and Joshua were strolling down the command deck, making their way into the stairwell. They were silent, Williams was only a few feet behind Joshua as he recalled how to return to the medbay. She wanted to talk to him though she was unsure on what to ask or how to start off. Doctor Chakwas was going to interview him for an analysis of his psychological health and Williams decided on waiting until then.

"Oh, Gunnery Chief." Joshua turned around before the last two steps of the stairs. "How do you actually use an omni-tool? Commander said it was all-purpose."

She walked down a few steps and got on the same level as Joshua before they resumed walking again. She demonstrated how to turn on the omni-tool. "The default setting to turn it on for humans is to squeeze your thumb inside your fist. If you wanna turn it off, just do it again."

Joshua did so and his omni-tool lit up a neon orange holographic wrist computer that covered his whole forearm. He poked his finger through the perceived surface of a screen and heard a beep.

Williams then showed him the most basic applications, ranging from the flashlight, a video recorder, voice recorder, the notepad, and finally, the extranet. She told her how to browse through the pages of extranet and made a comparison with it and entire libraries. She explained how he can use the omni-tool's keyboard even though his hand felt nothing as he prodded the character keys. "Haptic feedback." She said. She knew that Joshua merely pretended to understand the more technical explanations behind the technology of the omni-tool. Though she was surprised at how quickly he seemed to grasp the basic uses.

"It says here 'translator,' how does that work?" Joshua said, studying his new utility.

"You choose what languages you want to be automatically translated through your earpiece. Default settings translate registered Council languages and for humans, it has every Alliance languages. And for alien, asari, turian, salarian, or volus. There's a lot more though." She explained, slowly passing through the mess hall.

"Wait, earpiece?" Joshua asked.

"Oh, guessing the Commander forgot. Here." Williams reached over to separate the 'earpiece' that came along with the omni-tool, it was attached to the bracelet itself. "It's a self-adhesive and self-bonding ultrathin microchip transceiver." She was holding the strip by way of pinching it and then she applied on just behind his right ear. Within seconds, the strip seemed to melt into his skin, becoming unnoticeable.

"To die standing." She muttered.

"To die what?" Joshua looked on confused.

"Good, it works. I just said a turian military saying." Williams confirmed.

Joshua had to pause and finally conceded on the idea of aliens. "Aliens really exist, huh?" He asked her, sincere.

"Yeah, I think it'll be better to show you than to explain. They're just hard for me to describe properly." Williams replied. "I'm pretty sure you'll come across one no matter what."

"Well, okay." Joshua said, turning off his omni-tool and entering the medbay.

They carried on a conversation after greeting Doctor Chakwas who was on her terminal, typing away. Williams explained what the doctor was about to do and to relax as they needed to know if he needs psychological attention. Joshua agreed to do so, though he wasn't really looking forward to getting 'interrogated,' as he put it. Williams said it wasn't one and it was truly just for his own good.

Doctor Chakwas told Joshua that they weren't sure what the effects of his time travel could or how it might've affected mental and physical state. After he was fully convinced, Joshua sat down on a small chair in front of the doctor's terminal. Chakwas then pointed at the small box-shaped attachment on the top of the terminal. "This is a camera, we'll be recording this session for review, dear." She said as Vaccarelli nodded. "We'll start when you're ready."

Williams leaned on the table behind the doctor as the interview began.

"Let's start off with introducing yourself. What's your full name and birthday?"

"My name is Joshua Santos Vaccarelli and I was born on November 25, 1921." He said, fidgeting around a little.

"Where are you from?"

"Los Angeles, California." He shifted his weight on the chair. "USA, Earth." He added.

Chakwas then gave him a reassuring nod and smile before proceeding.

"Where were you before you were transported to this date?"

"I was in Okinawa." His face straightened and his body stopped moving.

"What was the last thing you remember before your transition?"

He paused and gulped. "McIntyre's dead body sliding off the mud. The screams from the ones who got mowed by the Jap with the MG." His eyes turned to the ground.

Chakwas started to second-guess her decision to pursue the interview so soon after his traumatic experiences, but the Captain was ordered under discretion to perform such a thing for Vaccarelli's own safety and to ensure no harm befalls on anyone he's had contact with.

"What were you doing in Okinawa, Joshua?" The doctor asked, using his first name to keep him calm.

"Was fighting the war like everybody else." He nonchalantly said. "I'm a marine and my job was to kill Japs, ma'am."

"What did you do as a marine?" Chakwas inquired, keeping a steady flow of questions.

"I'm a rifleman. I'm my squad's marksman." He recalled. "They taught me how to kill and I got really, really good at fucking killing Japs." Joshua emphasised with a mixture of pride and guilt.

The doctor continued to send the questions away, trying to get Joshua more relaxed through the obviously painful questions. He did start to lower his restraint to certain subjects, but he still remained reserved and cautious. Joshua constantly shifted his eyes from one place to another, unable to focus at times.

"How do you feel right now, Joshua?"

He didn't respond for a moment. He took a deep breath before locking his eyes into the camera lens.

"I know you're thinking that I seem to be accepting my situation easily ma'am, but to tell you the truth, I'm still having a hard time doing so. You've filled me up with all sorts of convincing proof that this is reality and I appreciate that, but still…" He revealed. "Part of me is thinking that I'm still on that ridge in Okinawa and this is all a part of my dying thoughts or I'm in a hospital ship about to be brought back home. They say life flashes before your eyes when you're dying, but somehow my brain decided to do something bonkers."

Chakwas listened and remained quiet, knowing he was going to keep talking.

"I'm feeling crummy, all right. I want to go home, I want to see my buddy McIntyre get sent to a ship knowing he'll be buried. I wanna tell my ma that I killed the fuckin' bastards that killed her sisters. My papa would be destroyed knowing his son doesn't even have a body to bury." His face turned into subdued anger and sadness. He wanted to cry. "I promised my sister I'd fix up that beat up jalopy she bought from the yard for ten dollars so she can finally have her first car."

Doctor Chakwas sympathised with him and wanted to chastise Captain Anderson and whoever ordered him for asking her to do this.

He buried his face in his hands. "Oh, geez, ma. I'm sorry, ma." He whispered to himself after thinking of his mother and how she'd blame herself for losing her son.

Tears finally trickled down from the corners of his eyes. He wiped, though his eyeballs were now red as he looked back at the camera.

The doctor felt as if she wanted to cry for him. Nonetheless, she pushed on and continued her questions.

"Your dogtags indicated that you're a Catholic or Christian. Do you believe in God, Joshua?"

"No, ma'am." He shot back quickly. "Not anymore."

The Gunnery Chief then watched him intently. She considered herself a religious person, somewhat a rarity among deep-space humans.

"Not anymore? How come?" Chakwas asked curious.

"When you see a mother pleading at you to take her child in her arms because she was strapped with explosives and you see a fuckin' Jap peek out and shoot to blow her up and have the bits of the baby and the mother rain down on you, you ask why does God even allow this to happen." He said, fuming. "Then you see two of your missing squadmates who were with you since Peleliu in a cave with their dicks in their mouths, their arms are where their legs should be, and their chest caved in so much that their ribs are sticking out through the flesh?" Joshua clenched his fist. "And their faces flayed off of any skin?"

"No, ma'am. I don't believe in God. I ain't planning on getting back on speaking terms with him, either."

Williams looked on, watching the interview take place. When she was told that Vaccarelli is to be treated like as a VIP, she disliked it. She had a strong aversion against preferential treatment for anyone. In her eyes, what happened to him was indeed unfortunate, but she didn't deem it necessary to give him special attention. Ever since her family's reputation was tarnished from the actions of his grandfather, she abhorred any kind of preferential attention to anyone. Though now, she felt beyond terrible at belittling Joshua's ordeal. She also mentally scolded herself for thinking that way.

"Doc, I don't rightly know what the real purpose of this little interview is. I am fine, I'm all silk. I just want to be home or get back to my guys. I'm the last of the old squad, if McIntyre's dead. We have new kids, seventeen, eighteen years old and the next experienced guy after me has only been in Okinawa for three weeks and he was drafted in." He rubbed his light stubble on his jaw. "I'm pretty sure one of 'em is actually sixteen."

"But that's not gonna happen, huh?" Joshua said, finally resigning. "This is real and I have to deal with it." He glared at the camera, his lips were trembling, and then he turned to look at the doctor, ready for the next question. "I look alright because I'm riding this one out as best I can and I find being panicked and hysterical isn't gonna go well no matter what. Might as well accept it."

All Doctor Chakwas could do was nod as she ended the interview and turn off the camera. "That's the end of this, dear." She said, looking up, but also clacking away on her terminal. "Do you need some time alone?"

"Yes, ma'am." Joshua muttered, getting up and proceeding to go to the lab.

"Did you get that, Captain?" Chakwas asked Anderson over vid-comm. She was holding back how livid she was for putting Vaccarelli through a very invasive questioning. "I hope you do not ask me to do something like this again."

"I apologise, Doctor. It was a precaution." Anderson said, realising what he just put Vaccarelli through. "It will be the last one, I assure you. From here on in, he's a civilian. We're close on securing an identity for him. Has he been vaccinated?"

"Yes, he has." The doctor responded.

"Very well. If all goes right, he might be allowed for exposure to alien races. Do you think we're going too fast for his assimilation, Doctor?" He asked, it was clear that he walking as he chatting.

"A little, but if I haven't made it clear, Captain, he's resilient, but he has limits like everybody else. It wouldn't be wise to treat him under a First Contact Protocol for too long. Don't forget that he is human." The Doctor warned under the veil of a medical professional. "He will want to be off this ship to discover what his new world is like."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll let the Commander know of this as well. She's showed concern over him too." Then the vid-comm link went dead.

The doctor finally relaxed and rubbed her forehead. Captain Anderson, she knew, was trying his best to handle multiple issues at once and couldn't be blamed for the seemingly harsh actions he took on this case. There was the attack on Eden Prime, the dead Spectre, a rogue Spectre, and the troubling vision Shepard received from the beacon that exploded. She just wished there was more she could do about the time-displaced man.

"The Commander had nothing to do with the destruction of the beacon!" Ambassador Udina pointed out to the Council.

Across the ambassador over a glass clearing stood the three leaders of the governed galaxy. The Council composed of an asari, turian, and a salarian, far more than mere representatives of their own race, they also carry the weight of leading a whole galaxy. Right now, they were dealing with an accusation of treason for one of their top Spectre agent.

Saren is a turian who stood amongst the ranks of the Council's own intelligence agency, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, or as they're commonly known, Spectres. They are given almost a free reign on how they choose to uphold galactic law and as such, its operatives are chosen meticulously from any of the Council races. All Spectres are presently composed of only salarians, turians, and asari. Commander Shepard is a prime candidate for the first human Spectre and the whole fiasco with the Eden Prime colony was hampering the progress.

"Saren wasn't supposed to be there, it wasn't a disclosed mission. The only way he could've known that we were there is through nefarious means." Shepard tried to explain, though she was sensing that the Council was biased. "A dockworker testified that Saren was the one who his fellow agent. He killed Nihlus." She ended.

"A traumatised dockworker's word is now promising evidence?" Saren's hologram to the side of the Council pressed.

"You let his guard down and then you killed him in cold blood!" Udina fired back. "How else would you know about the beacon and destroy it?"

"When Nihlus died, his files automatically passed on to me, seeing as I was his mentor and trusted friend." Saren said confident. "But of course, you'd shift the blame on to me. Typical human."

Anderson winced at Saren's words. Their case against him wasn't looking good.

"He is right, unless we have concrete proof that Saren is connected to the attack at Eden Prime, we cannot indict him." The asari councillor explained.

"He's doing this because he hates humans!" The human ambassador bellowed.

"You're an incompetent species. You're not even ready for a Council seat, let alone a human in the Spectres." Saren snidely remarked, his comment clearly directed at Shepard.

"You have no right to say that!" Udina retorted.

The asari councillor raised up her palm to stop the escalation. "Commander Shepard's induction into the Spectres isn't the matter of this meeting here."

"What about her vision from the prothean beacon?" Anderson chimed in.

"How am I supposed to defend myself from a dream? Are we taking those as evidence now?" Saren's voice asked loudly, confident that he'd won.

There was a short silence that was cut by the asari councillor. "We do not. It is clear that the ambassador doesn't have any further evidence of Agent Saren's alleged treason."

"Of course, like there was any doubt." Saren seemed to grin through his mandibles.

"This meeting is adjourned." The salarian councillor ended.

The three councillors then retreated from their podium and Saren's holographic avatar dissipated as the human ambassador lowered his head in frustration. He was angry at how the Council seemed to push aside human concerns, saying that humanity's actions are what to blame for human lives lost. He turned around and followed the Captain, walking away from the speaker's floor across the councillors podiums. Commander Shepard and Captain Anderson were already discussing ways on how to possibly obtain solid evidence to present to the Council.

"I already told you what I know, Commander. Your best bet to find Garrus Vakarian is through Harkin from C-Sec, you'll find him at that gentleman's club in the Wards… Chora's Den, I think. Harkin is an ass, but you'll need him to the turian that hates Saren as much as we do." Anderson passed to the Commander and in extension, to Alenko who was with her.

"I also came across a volus who claims to be working for the Shadow Broker. Could have information too." Shepard related.

Udina then spoke up. "That's all up to you, Commander. I can't let the Captain get involved in this investigation. He has too much history with Saren and that might make things worse than it already is."

Shepard then looked at the Captain for an explanation. The bright illumination of the Citadel Tower Presidium made her squint as she adjusted her eyes at a light source she didn't see before.

"He's right, Shepard. Saren and I have a history."

She wanted to ask what happened, but felt it wasn't the right time or place.

"Aye-aye, sir."

"We'll leave you to it. You'll find us at the embassy." Udina started to walk away. "And Commander, do hurry. We don't know how fast Saren can completely cover his ass."

Shepard nodded and lingered longer. Alenko was just silent, though he finally broke and offered his opinion on the matter as soon as Shepard asked for it. "Well, I think our best bet is to find the turian first."

"Agreed."

Before leaving, booted up her omni-tool, and logged on her vid-call service. She first contacted Williams on a secured line.

"Meeting done. How is Vac doing?"

"Good news or bad? Vac is a-okay, though the questioning kind of pushed him to an edge. He's back in his hidey hole in the lab."

"Does he know how to use his omni-tool now?"

"Yes, ma'am. He was pretty quick on catching the basic stuff."

"Could you send me his omni-tool contact?"

"Aye, ma'am."

Within a second, Shepard's omni-tool pinged with a text—it was Joshua's contact details.

He was sitting in silence listening to the low hum of the ship, propped up against a bulkhead when he felt his omni-tool bracelet vibrate. Confused, he tucked in his thumb inside a fist and squeezed. The omni-tool lit up to life and on the screen was Shepard with her hazel eyes reflecting a bright light source.

"Commander?" Joshua answered the vid-call with a wonder.

"Good to see you've figured out how to use an omni-tool." Her image of the screen said.

He chuckled. "Only barely, Commander."

"How are you finding things?"

"Good, ma'am. I mostly want some time to myself to take everything in. Maybe do some reading. I want to check out the extranet." Joshua told her. "I've been told it's a futuristic version of encyclopedias—a library even. And apparently, more stuff than that."

"That's right, Joshua." Shepard smiled through the screen. "Is there anything more I can do for you?"

"Uh," He thought for a second. "Something to do on the ship. I don't wanna just linger around. Could be anything. I'll swab the decks. Wait, do ships still require field days?"

Shepard gave a short laugh, knowing that a marine mostly does cleaning when in garrison. "Yes, they still do." She quickly changed expressions. "Are you sure you can do work?" She asked concerned, unsure.

"Yes, ma'am. It's much better than constantly thinking of home. I already did enough of that in Japan." Joshua admitted.

"I'll see what I can do." Shepard assured. "Was that all?"

"Yeah, wait, one more thing."

"What is it?"

"I've been wearing these dungarees since I enlisted. Is there any chance at all I can get some new threads?" Joshua asked with his best impression of pleading eyes.

"Damn, how long has that been?" Shepard asked.

"About two years, more or less." Joshua shook his head. The thought of wearing dungarees longer than a few more days was unbearable.

"You couldn't get replacements?" Shepard inquired, she knew that supplies weren't the best, but she didn't expect them to be that bad.

It was Joshua's turn to give a quick laugh. "Commander, my rifle was the same shit that my grandpa probably used. Only time anyone of us could get a replacement was if they were beyond repair." He lifted up his sleeve, showing a patch of uneven green on the material. "I cut this part off a dead Jap's uniform, funnily enough, he was the one that tried to shoot me. Rifle round missed me by this much." He put his thumb and index finger close, almost touching.

Shepard chuckled. "All right, I'll be on the lookout for civvies for you."

Joshua nodded his head and said his thanks.

"Alright, well, I've got to run. We'll talk once I get the opportunity." Shepard smiled as she logged off.

Joshua returned to his lonesome in the lab. He fiddled with his omni-tool and soon enough, he brought up the extranet on his screen. At first the interface was confusing to him, but he got acquainted with the workings of it. He found out how to perform searches and the first thing he looked up was what he thought to be a good step on familiarising himself with his new life. It's only been a day for him since he's been on a ridge in Okinawa to an Alliance frigate docked on a space station.

Of course, he could choose to keep sitting down and make himself more miserable than he already felt, but he didn't want to. Instead, he chose to keep on his composure and rested one the idea that he can cry once he gets back on Earth. He figured that the first step he needed to take on the long trip home was to catch up on history by his own hand.

In the search bar on the extranet, he typed in, 'human history, 1945-2183.' He didn't last long before a taking a break and typing in a photo search for Los Angeles.

**References: **Chuck, Firefly, The Pacific, Flags of Our Fathers, Black Hawk Down.

**Any Bonds Today?** Is a song written by Irving Berlin. It was featured in a WWII animated propaganda movie starring Bugs Bunny. Also famously sung by The Andrews Sisters.

Any Bonds Toda


	5. Stalemate

**A/N: **Kept you waiting, huh? I really apologise for the long wait. Now, I have to ask a favour from you all. I have changed a lot of stuff from the earlier chapters because I didn't like the way the story was turning out. It was too fast and rushed. Not to mention I completely vilified characters within a second of meeting them. Now, I think I have paced this story better and much more realistic (or acceptable) Expect updates from now on in 1-2 weeks intervals. Maybe 3, if pushing it.

**I cannot emphasise this enough, I have changed stuff around in order to make the story more sensible. Read the prior chapters to see what has changed. Thank you, you lovable bastards for sticking by.**

**_Stalemate_**

Commander Shepard reeled back her fist after giving Harkin a quick, hard jab to his jaw.

"What the hell?! I'll have C-Sec on your ass!" He yelled.

It seemed as if the whole of Chora's Den was staring at the Commander, though within a few seconds, everything returned to normal—dancers went back to dancing, drunks went back to drinking. Physical altercations weren't uncommon at all in the gentleman's club. Harkin was looking up at the Commander with an aching jawbone and squinting eyes. He was drunk, yet the hardsuit backed punch was still enough to shake him with pain.

"You can try, but I'll make sure you'll get fired for obstructing an official Alliance and Citadel investigation." She bluffed. This was a gamble for her, though not her first.

"Damn you." He stammered also looking at Alenko who had his arms crossed and had an expression that seemed to back up the Commander's claim. "Fine."

Shepard offered her hand and Harkin grabbed onto it to it as he pulled himself up. He sat down back on his stool, poured himself another shot of whiskey, and drank it.

"The turian is at the clinic. He's doing the same as you probably are." Harkin said with grimace.

"Same thing? What's he doing there?" Shepard asked.

"He said something about a Citadel investigation. Now go away. That's all I know." He ended, shooing away the duo.

Once they were far from the drunken C-Sec officer's hearing range, Alenko came up to the Commander. "How'd you know he'd buy your bluff, Shepard?" He asked.

"I didn't, I took a shot. He's drunk and he wouldn't want to get in further trouble, probably." Shepard said confident.

"Well, I guess your poker face helped too." Alenko commented.

Shepard smiled at the little poke towards her demeanour as they left the club and seedy environment.

After a quick walk through the halls that littered this particular part of the Citadel Wards, Shepard and Alenko finally found the community clinic that was directed to them by Harkin. The Commander thought of a way to convince the turian, Garrus, who is also a Citadel Security officer, how to help them win the case against Saren.

Once the clinic's door hissed open, they were treated to a sight of three human men speaking to the facility's doctor in a very aggressive manner. Though in a low cover facing Shepard, the turian was there, crouched and hidden; he glanced towards the Commander and quietly seemed to acknowledge her presence. The turian in a standard issued C-Sec hardsuit carefully inched forward without making a sound, which was by all means, a feat by itself. Shepard then pulled her pistol from her hip's magnetic holster and readied it. Alenko followed her action.

"I promise I didn't tell anyone!" The doctor exclaimed, terrified for her life.

"Smart, but you're still a loose end, doc." One of the men, wearing an eyepiece, said.

One of men raised his pistol and readied to fire, but he saw two people appear by the doorway. "What the hell?"

As soon as the armed man finished his last word, Garrus sprung up and fired at the group. Shepard and Alenko quickly sighted the ones who weren't targeted by the C-Sec officer. The doctor rushed behind her desk and hid.

The firefight was over in three seconds.

Garrus walked over to the doctor and helped her up. "Good to know you're okay, Doctor Michel." He said, relieved.

She was beaming with a smile of gratitude. "I'm glad you came, Garrus." Michel breathed.

Shepard and Alenko approached the two and Shepard's first course of action was to scold the turian.

"She could've been hit, what were you thinking?" Shepard chided.

"There was no time to waste, she's fine. She wouldn't have been if I waited a second longer." Garrus defended.

Shepard reluctantly conceded. She saw the logic in his action. She would've still tried to find a way to make sure no civilian was in the crossfire if the decision came to her. "Why were those men here?" She asked.

Doctor Michel was silent before admitting, "They were sent by Fist. They wanted me to tell them where the quarian went."

"A quarian?" Alenko wondered. Quarians weren't usually seen anywhere outside of their nomadic flotilla.

"I know who she's talking about." Garrus intervened. "I'm also after her and I'm betting you'll want her as well." He said with a reassuring tone.

Shepard raised an eyebrow and a slight smirk, looks like she didn't need to convince the turian to share his evidence after all.

"Why would we?" Alenko asked in place of the Commander.

"I believe she has evidence against Saren. You're here for that, aren't you?" Garrus asked, positive.

Shepard look intrigued. "Yes, we do. So what do you know?" She asked him.

Garrus then turned to face redheaded Doctor Michel. "Chloe, who was this quarian?"

The doctor rubbed her gloved hands together. "Tali came into my arms with a suit rupture and a gunshot wound. As I was making sure she's gonna be alright, she told me her conundrum. She found evidence linking Saren to the geth. Because of that, she got pursued by his goons, leading her here with a wound." She made eye contact with Shepard who urged her to continue. "She managed to kill the most pursuant of the lot. Shortly after my treating of her, the volus that was passing by said he worked for the Shadow Broker, the information trader? I encouraged her to go because the volus assured Tali that her information was sure to be sent to the right people."

"Alright," Shepard chimed. "I met a volus that claimed he worked for the Shadow Broker. Barla Von?"

"Yes, that's the volus. After Tali left with him, she sent me a message saying that Barla Von sent her to Fist at Chora's Den, who's also an agent for the Shadow Broker." Doctor Michel then pointed at the three dead bodies on the floor. "These are Fist's men. I'm guessing Fist double-crossed her and the Shadow Broker. I guess to work for Saren. But that's suicide."

"Looks like she's in trouble then. We need to hurry, Commander." Alenko suggested.

Deciding to do just that, she turned around and started to walk off. "Thank you, doc!" She said, speeding up.

"Commander Shepard, hold up!" Garrus jogged, catching up.

"What is it?" She faced him, but didn't stop her pace.

"Let me come with you. I want to see Saren be brought to justice and I have a feeling there's more to this than just Eden Prime." Garrus offered, trailing Shepard.

The Commander stopped in her tracks. "You're in." She said with no pause.

"Just like that?" Garrus was taken aback by the quick acceptance.

"When the lieutenant here and I first saw you before meeting the Council, you already showed your dislike of Saren and you wanted him brought to justice even if your boss practically kicked you out of the investigation" Shepard told him. "Of course, you're in."

Garrus looked at Alenko to see his reaction too. He wasn't that adept at reading human expressions yet, but he could tell that the male human approved. "Thanks, Commander. I'll do as you say."

With the turian officer in tow, Shepard led the group on the way back to Chora's Den.

Joshua Vaccarelli finally took a break from locking his eyes with the omni-tool. He had been in various sitting and lying positions trying to find a comfortable way to read. The extranet had provided him with a plethora of information and he gobbled it up. Though when Williams came in to check up on him, she suggested being wary of some of the things he can read on the extranet- saying that some of them are plain hokum, inaccurate information. When Williams left after realising the he was buried and preoccupied with reading, he coincidentally came across one piece that he found absurd. He thought he should ask the others about it later. _Human biotics, the science of using element zero to move things with one's mind._

He was sitting down at the mess hall with a plastic cup of water, wondering to get some food if he needed some. The hall was surprisingly minimal in design. Above the table were two large screens, a water dispenser nearby, to the right was a grouping of personal lockers attached to the wall that has the medbay on the other side of it, and on the opposite side of the lockers was a control panel from what he could tell. He was questioned where the head and showers could be. Across the mess hall was what he assumed are sleeping quarters. He took a sip from his cup and walked up to the sleeping bunks. Joshua found them unappealing after examination, finding them to similar to coffins because of their design—it was a long rectangular shaped container, once the hatch made of transparent pane and metal opened, the inside revealed where the inhabitant would be. It was cushioned on all sides and the head rest consisted of a softer material. He'd have found them comfortable if it weren't for the lid that would secure itself shut.

Williams caught Joshua eyeing the sleeping bunks up and down as she came back down to the quarter deck. She approached him casually. "They're more comfortable than you think." She said.

"They remind me too much of coffins except they're see-through." Joshua confessed. "I'd take the lab's deck before getting into that."

"The doc freed up one of the bunks in her medbay for you, you know." Williams said.

"Yeah, maybe. The thought of just laying down in a bed isn't really exciting for me. I honestly forgot how laying down in one felt like. All beds I've been on since we got on Okinawa was just mud or dried mud." He sarcastically chuckled.

They started walking back to the mess table.

"How long was that?" Williams asked him.

"We were about five, six weeks in? I dunno, I wasn't the guy taking note of the date. He got killed two days before I got transported here." He replied with no emotion.

"Do you mind if I ask how the conditions were like? I've learned that it was terrible, but you must know it better." As soon as she asked him that, Williams mentally slapped herself, thinking she stepped out of line.

"It rained most of the time. Mud was everywhere. It rained every other day. We slept in foxholes surrounded by the dead Japs we killed. So from that, you can imagine the smell. It was just… A wasteland of bodies swallowed by the earth." Joshua recalled, taking a deep breath. "And we lived with those bodies for weeks, obviously."

"I'm sorry." Williams said, apologetic and regretful for making him remember.

"Don't worry about it, Gunnery Chief." Joshua replied.

The two sat down the mess table across each other. Joshua took another sip of water from his cup.

"You know, you don't have to call me by my rank, or anyone on this ship, actually." Williams shared with him. "I mean, you aren't Alliance, so I don't really see a reason why you'd keep calling us by our ranks. No offense."

"Well, none taken. I'm used to calling everyone by their ranks or last names. I actually haven't heard my first name in ages until the Commander did." Joshua admitted, surprised at his own revelation. "Everyone just called me Vac."

"Oh, I see."

"I got a question." Joshua leaned forward.

"Yeah?"

"Where do you guys get chow?"

The trio of Shepard, Alenko, and Garrus arrived at Chora's Den and found the area surrounding the club eerily quiet. The strong bass of the club's music wasn't heard and the usual din of chatter from patrons weren't audible either. They approached the club's entrance when a scuffling noise caught their attention. Shepard ordered them to halt and she approached the entrance, pressing her ear against it. The noises were muffled, but it was evident that a number of people on the other side were planning an ambush. She was further convinced when one of them said to another, "Are they here yet?"

Shepard did some hand motions to Alenko and Garrus, who immediately stacked up to the wall adjacent to her, all getting their weapons on the ready. Shepard backed up within Alenko's arm reach. She quietly tapped on her head and showed a fist, signifying that they were going to perform a breach with an explosive. Alenko then moved towards the door, obtained a stun explosive from his hardsuit and readied it.

With a quick nod from Alenko, Shepard pressed on the control panel that would open the hatch. As soon as the hatch hissed open, Alenko tossed the grenade inside, returned to cover for second and waited for the stun explosive to go off.

"Holy shit!" One of the men screamed.

As soon as the loud cracking happened, Shepard and Alenko stormed in with their rifles and quickly took down the ones behind the bar and an overturned table. Garrus followed suit after Shepard, trailing her and also taking down an armed man on the dancing platform above the bar. Alenko shifted to the right and fired upon a human that was trying to hide behind a stack of stools. "Cover, cover!" Alenko carefully yelled over the gunfire. Garrus followed his direction and promptly returned fire on another target behind Alenko's shooter.

Shepard pushed to the left and spotted a turian with a shotgun. Acting in muscle and mind reflex, her body gave off a deep blue aura as her biotics came to work, flicking her whole left arm upwards to the direction of her target, lifting the turian off the ground at a high speed before getting slammed back down to the deck with a shrieking crack. She followed through with two shots from her rifle to completely neutralise the turian. As blood leaked from his tailored suit, Shepard checked her surroundings and after finding that no other hostiles were around, she checked up on her team. "Sound off." She turned to the other two.

"All good." Alenko said.

"I'm good." Garrus added, actually exhilarated at the prospect of having a gunfight without having to answer to Executor Pallin. He figured that once Saren has been proven guilty, the Executor can't hold him for excessive force. It was necessary, he'd justify.

The three regrouped and walked down a small hallway that had a hatch by the end of it. Expecting another firefight, they approached cautious, weapons lowered yet ready to fire within a split-second. The hatch hissed open and revealed two shaking human men with their pistol and shotgun barely up.

"Don't come any closer!" The shotgun wielding one ordered.

Shepard had to chuckle at the lack of seriousness of the situation. The two were obviously terrified and didn't want to fight. "Look, we just took out everyone outside. Do you really wanna do this?"

The two buckled and lowered their weapons. "Uh, no, not really."

"It's not worth it." Shepard pushed.

They looked at each other before dropping their weapons and made a break for the exit. Garrus looked on confounded while Alenko was laughing at the absurdity of what just occurred.

"What just happened?" Garrus asked, still confused.

"I guess sometimes words do beat swords." Alenko joked.

Garrus knew what the human metaphor meant, but sometimes he wondered why humans seem to have metaphors for just about every situation. Shepard started to move again and Alenko and himself followed.

They rounded a corner and quickly came face to face with Fist, who was trying to set up two automated security turrets.

With Garrus and Alenko's quick thinking, they used their omni-tools to send a disabling charge to the turrets, causing them to overload and explode, blowing back Fist. Shepard dashed forward and stomped on Fist hand as he tried to reach for his dropped pistol. Shepard returned her rifle into her back magnetic holster. His face was peppered with tiny specks of burned material and Shepard considered him lucky that he wasn't injured more from the explosion, considering he wasn't wearing a hardsuit. His shields barely stopped the kinetic force from such a close proximity to an explosion.

"I'm not telling you anything, I'm dead anyway." Fist claimed.

"Where's the quarian?" Garrus said, walking to them.

"I don't know. I ain't telling you." Fist insisted.

The Commander was annoyed and her temper suddenly flared. She just got into a pretty close firefight in a confined space all for this. She wasn't having it. Within a second's notice, she pulled out her pistol and fired a round towards Fist's thigh—she made sure it was a clean, flesh wound. The round grazed a clear chunk of flesh off his left thigh and Fist exclaimed in pain. Alenko and Garrus looked on in surprise.

"Where is she?" Shepard casually said.

"I ain't telling you shit! I betrayed the Shadow Broker, I'm dead anyway!" Fist screamed.

Shepard then reached her foot over and stepped down on the bleeding wound. He ended up screaming louder than he ever has.

"Shit! Fine! I'll tell you!" He yelled over his excruciating pain. "Argh!"

Shepard took off her foot and waited for his response.

"That stupid quarian wasn't gonna get an audience with Shadow Broker. No way. Saren wanted that information and he threatened me to be killed. So I sent her away to that freaking turian's guys." Fist revealed, clutching his thigh, slowly getting up.

"Where?" Alenko asked sternly.

"The corridors just around the corner, but she doesn't have much time." He stood up with a very prominent limp.

The Commander faced her two squadmates and egged them for their comments.

"What about him, Commander, we can't just let him go." Alenko offered.

"He's a criminal, Shepard." Garrus mentioned.

"Don't worry about me, you'll never see me again. Just let me go." Fist bargained, albeit poorly.

She decided to let him go, figuring there was no further use or threat from a betrayer who'll probably be dead within two days. Garrus didn't thoroughly agree, but Alenko just accepted his commander's decision. Fist then dragged himself like a two-legged slug out of his little hideout, through Chora's Den, and then taking a Citadel Rapid Transit cab.

Shepard knew that time was of the essence, but she felt that searching Fist's hideout could produce something viable. It didn't make more than ten seconds until she did. After checking the wall safe that was left open by Fist, Shepard found an Optical Storage Device. She did a quick check of the OSD with her omni-tool and found some very incriminating evidence of corruption in the Citadel—who was taking bribes, which officials were under the influence of certain criminal leaders, and which C-Sec prisoners walked in and out of precincts as if they weren't under detention. Garrus had his mouth opened at the list. He would've done a lot to get that kind of lead and Shepard had done it by just reaching into a wall safe.

"By the spirits, Commander. You've done more police work than most of the guys in my precinct." Garrus said, thoroughly impressed.

"I'll keep this around until we find a way to distribute it." Shepard pulled the OSD of her omni-tool and stuffed it inside one of her hardsuit's hidden pockets.

Shepard snickered, appreciating the compliment. She reached it once more and found a credit chit. She entered it into her omni-tool as well and ended up with a free five-thousand credit deposit to her personal account. She gave an amused chuckle before facing her squad.

"Funny place." She muttered to herself before jogging away to rescue the quarian.

Alenko, still a little taken aback by Shepard's show of ruthlessness, followed. He has heard of the Commander's capacity to be cold, but the stories of her being a peaceful warrior were far more prominent. He was just starting to get to know her better yet at the same time, she felt as if the Commander wasn't a full picture, but a changing mosaic. He knew however, that Shepard wasn't wholly morally one-sided.

Joshua was scrolling through his extranet pages when his head throbbed intensely in short bursts. He winced in pain as flashes of an alien bombarded his mind. It was humanoid, its head appeared to look avian in nature, mandibles along its jawline, and had a light metallic sheen for skin. Its eyes glowed sinister. Its right arm was larger than its left counterpart and seemed to be mechanical, more wiring and rigid that the other arm felt puny. The alien was standing in front of the same towering metal cuttlefish he'd seen earlier. Before the last throb, the cuttlefish suddenly grew in size, the alien almost becoming a tiny dot in comparison to the superstructure that moved its legs and let out a deep mechanical groan. Joshua then realised that the two figures are now correctly scaled. The metal cuttlefish was truly that huge.

"Vac, you okay?" Williams said, noticing that he was straining his face and had his hand pressing against his temple.

"Y-yeah." Joshua panted. "Just a really strong headache."

Williams raised an eyebrow. "That looked a hell of a lot more than just a headache. Do you get migraines?"

Joshua massaged his temples and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, I don't think so. It's just some cock-eyed, bonkers shit vision." He groaned. "Actually the second one today."

"Take note of that and let the Commander know when she comes back. Let the doc know too. Something might be up." She said, restraining herself from prying.

"Alright, thanks, Williams." Joshua said.

He noticed a small wrapped carton on the table labelled, 'MRE, Turkey Breast/Potatoes & Gravy.'

"What's this, Gunnery Chief?" Joshua said, examining the carton.

"You were so wired in your reading that you didn't see me leave and come back?" Williams asked actually surprised.

"Uh… I guess not." He said timidly.

"Well, you asked where to get chow, but I'm not sure if I can take you down to the cargo hold just yet. So I got MREs for us while you were reading." Williams pointed at her own MRE. "Meal, Ready to Eat, MRE. Standard ship chow." She opened her carton and started to prepare hers.

Joshua mimicked her, copying her movements and how to use the waterless heating for the entrée. "So this is what the Commander brought me earlier."

"If we had these back then…" Joshua waxed sombre. The thought of MREs like the ones in front of him would've been a grand help to everybody.

"What did you guys have?" Williams asked sincere and curious.

"It differs on what's available, sometimes we don't eat at all." He said, checking up on the heating entrée which was starting to emanate a delectable smell. "Sometimes it's almost spoiled rice with maggots, whatever fruits we come across with, but we usually got through hunger with those rations that the Corps still had from the Great War. Two decades old ration blocks needed a lot of sucking to moisturise it so you can actually eat it with no problems."

"Damn." Williams commented. "And I thought 2 MREs for the boot camp 54 was terrible."

"So that's how this shit works." Joshua looked amazed at his first self-made MRE. He immediately downed a helping of his food. His eyes closed at the taste, still reeling back from the constant terrible food from his war.

"Hey, if no one's around, you can call me Ashley, if you'd like." Williams offered, taking a plastic spoonful of her MRE. "That way you don't to keep saying Gunnery Chief, cause I know it's a mouthful."

"Sure, Ashley." Joshua said, agreeing while taking another bite. "By the way, how's the Marine Corps now?"

Ashley smiled, finally, something they have a connection about. "What do you wanna know?"

"How's the training like? Do they still go to MCRD San Diego or Parris Island?" He talked while chewing.

"Alliance Marines go to any recruit depot that's closest to their address. Those from colonies have no say in where they go, though. They just get assigned to whichever depot one has the least slots open." Ashley explained, opening a packet of ketchup.

"How long's the training? What do they do?" Joshua munched slowly.

"Fifteen weeks for boot camp, then a week's leave, then to combat training, then infantry specialisation training. If you're not infantry, you go to wherever they teach your occupational skills." She said, hiding a burp. "Then on to your posting or more training if you're Special Operations Forces. Could be Earthside, fleet expeditionaries, colonial security forces, exchange programs with different Citadel militaries."

Joshua then had an intruding thought. "Do you think I can reenlist?"

"You just got out of the Second World War and you wanna enlist again?" Even the war-fighting mind of Ashley was surprised.

"The Corps was all I really had. I didn't have much in way of skills. I was gonna try to be a car mechanic when I get home or learn a trade, but that's a pipe dream now."

Ashley knew a lot of marines who had a similar origin. "How old were you when you enlisted?"

"I was 22. Enlistment age was 18, but I don't know why I held off. I just sold newspapers and comics for a guy." Joshua recalled. "So what do ya think? You think I can enlist?"

Williams was speechless for a second. For a man who was fresh out of war, Vaccarelli was really eager to go back in the military. "I don't know, Vac."

There was a silence for a short while as they continued on finishing their meals. Joshua got up to get a cup of water when Ashley couldn't hold her curiosity about his visions any longer. "Vac, what did you mean by your visions? What did you see?"

Joshua had to stop and think to try to recall the fleeting images that seared into his brain. "There was… an alien. And behind him was a leg of a giant metal cuttlefish robot." He tried to contain his chuckle at the poorly worded sentence.

"A giant…" Ashley pondered. "Wait, how did the robot look like exactly?"

"It was really big. I'd say like three buildings on top of each other. Looked like a squid or cuttlefish. It was black or purple painted. It looked more alive than robot." Joshua said.

"Shit…" Ashley cursed, knowing the implication.

"What's got you edgy?" Joshua asked, sitting back down with his cup of water.

"There's only thing that we know that matches that. It's the ship we saw at Eden Prime."

"The thing is a ship?" Joshua raised and then furrowed his eyebrows. Ships, no, spaceships couldn't possibly look like that.

"Yeah, we think it's Saren's ship." She replied.

"Who's Saren?"

"A turian that murdered his fellow Spectre and wanted to destroy a colony on Eden Prime." Ashley said in a very sure manner.

Joshua remembered the alien in his vision as well. "By any chance, did this Saren look like tall bird with a metal arm?"

"What… Was there anything more? What about the other?"

"The first one was crazy. I saw a war or a conflict. Everything was red, I saw steel, then flesh, then came the screaming. Robots were killing some folks that I can't figure out. Everything zoomed out and I saw this ball on fire. Then the cuttlefish was there too."

Ashley widened her eyes. This couldn't wait. She had to contact Commander Shepard.

"Hold up, Joshua." She said.

He looked a little befuddled at the sudden use of his first name from her.

"Commander, Vac had visions. Way too convenient considering what they are." She talked into her vid-call.

"Shoot." Shepard replied.

"He had visions of Saren and his ship at Eden Prime." She starkly said.

Shepard was quiet on the other end, seemed to look around her, and then returned back to her omni-tool. "What else?"

"He claims seeing a ball on fire, war, chaos. Synthetics killing organics, I'd say."

Shepard widened her eyes too. "That's what I saw when I approached the prothean beacon." She opened a door and turned to the camera again. "I'm at the ambassador's office with a quarian that has evidence against Saren. I'll talk to the Captain about this. Right now, just keep Joshua occupied. If another vision happens, bring him to Chakwas—wait, actually, you two go to the doc and see what she can make of it too."

"Got it, Commander." Ashley said, cutting the call.

Shepard was starting to get very irritated at the constant mouth-running of Udina about supposed denied privileges and botched human recognition. She knew humanity could use a bulldog in terms of political and diplomatic pursuit, but Udina was starting to become a loose cannon of unrefined words. Here she was, with the evidence that would prove Saren guilty, yet Udina was rambling on about 'firefights in the wards' and 'further jeopardising your Spectre candidacy.' She wanted to bring up a hand, reach over, and slap him upside his head. Shepard looked over and saw that even though the quarian had a full environmental suit with her face mostly concealed, Tali was undoubtedly feeling awkward. Garrus and Alenko remained in silence though more than likely, they felt the same.

"Are you listening, Commander?" Udina pressed.

Shepard actually felt like rolling her eyes, instead, she decided to reply with an equal amount of discontent. "Well, I have evidence that proves Saren plotted to destroy Eden Prime." She stepped forward, waving her hand towards Tali. "This quarian was being chased by Saren's hirelings because they knew her capability."

Udina became silent.

"I would've told you that if you didn't jump down my throat for actions that if I recall, led to this evidence faster than your bullrushing." Shepard fired.

The human ambassador had to lower his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Commander, I was getting riled from this mess." Udina tried to cover and act smoothly, turning to the quarian. "Now, how can this quarian-"

"My name is Tali!" She interjected, far from her usual quiet and timid self. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"We rescued her seconds after Saren's thugs attacked her. It was lucky timing." Shepard said.

"I came across a geth unit while on my pilgrimage and first thought of going to Illium to give it to the authorities, but we got attacked and forced to divert here to the Citadel." Tali continued.

"Forgive me, Tali, but what is this evidence you speak of?" Udina said, disregarding the side-story.

"When geth units are destroyed, they initiate a systems purge that deletes any trace of information." Tali explained while pulling out an OSD from her suit's many belts. "But if you're lucky and with some skill, you can pull a chunk of it. I managed to pull some from its audio drives."

Tali waved the OSD around before plugging it into her omni-tool and playing the solitary audio file on it.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit." Her omni-tool played the file to everyone in the room.

Captain Anderson stepped forward and confirmed his hidden relief. "That's Saren's voice! We got him." He breathed assured. "There's no way he can defend himself from this."

Tali paused the file. "Wait, there's more." She played it again.

"… And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." A feminine voice this time.

"I don't know who that second voice is." Anderson commented.

Shepard looked quizzical. "Reapers… Why do they sound familiar?"

"It doesn't matter, we have to go to the Council and present this right away. Shepard, bring your squad and meet us at the tribunal." Udina said somewhat excitedly, making a quick copy of Saren's treachery from Tali's omni-tool and storming off with Captain Anderson.

"We got him, Commander. Good job, child." The Captain smiled proudly at Shepard before leaving the human embassy room. Shepard nodded appreciatively at her mentor.

The remaining four people in the embassy lingered for a bit, giving the tribunal some time to begin. It wasn't long before Tali spoke up.

"Commander, can I come with you?"

Shepard looked at the quarian with a concern for her safety. Tali was capable of defending herself, but not fully. If her kinetic shields failed a little earlier, her environmental suit would've been ruptured hopelessly. Shepard knew about the sensitivity of the quarian immune system and that any foreign agent can potentially be life threatening to them, even something as simple as a cold. Tali appeared to be no more than a fresh high school graduate taking a long summer break to discover herself.

"Aren't you in your pilgrimage?" Shepard asked, perturbed.

"Wait, what's a pilgrimage?" Alenko questioned while sitting on chair.

Garrus stepped in to explain. As a Citadel Security Officer, he had come across numerous incidents where quarians on their pilgrimage got in trouble. Working with them for a period of time has given him a working knowledge of the Migrant Fleet's inner dealings. He had to think for a second of a human comparison to the quarian pilgrimage. "Think of it as a rite-of-age passage, Lieutenant Alenko." He explained. "Quarians leave home just after reaching adulthood in search of something or anything to bring back to their Migrant Fleet as an offering."

"Mostly right. Sometimes we have supplies or tools or we just bring information that would benefit the whole of us. If it ends up helping the Fleet, it's acceptable. Then we are fully recognised as adults." Tali related. "Though sometimes… we get unlucky and some of us don't return home." She finished.

"Then why do you want to come with us if you're on this pilgrimage?" Shepard continued.

"Commander, if you bring me with you, I cannot imagine the sort of help I can return to the flotilla. And if you're worried about my health, don't. I can take care of myself. This isn't the first time I've had suit ruptures. I'm an excellent technician and I know my way around mechanical and ship engineering." Tali said, trying to convince Shepard.

The Commander thought to herself for a second, trying to see the advantage of having a quarian mechanic. There was already a lot of technical expertise between her, Alenko, and Garrus. Tali looked at her, rather, felt she was looking at her with pleading eyes. Shepard thought that even if she can't bring any further combat tech expertise, she realised that the quarian had helped her prove of Saren's guilt.

"All right. You can gather your things and wait for us at C-Sec Academy. Once we finish up here, I'll make sure to convince Captain Anderson to let you aboard as a quarian envoy." Shepard said, nodding with a slight smile to Tali who if she felt right, looked like she wanted to jump around.

Garrus found the sight of an excited quarian quite a change from the usual ones he'd come across—homeless, indebted, stuck in servitude, and sometimes, dead. He felt sympathy for the nomadic species, who were unable to muster some forgiveness from other species. Garrus can't imagine being exiled from a homeplanet because of some AI that went crapshoot and still be vilified by the galactic community three-hundred years later. Though, he can't truly blame the people who disliked quarians. They did invent an AI that became self-aware and had a neural-network that was practically impregnable.

"Garrus, go with her. Make sure no more of Saren's men go after her." Shepard ordered the turian.

Garrus looked at her, his mandibles twitched and he tilted his head.

"You asked to come along as a part of my squad, right?" Shepard lifted her head up as if saying, 'you asked for this.'

"Will do, Commander." Garrus replied with a slight sarcasm.

There was a crowd gathering at the tribunal. Diplomats of all races were starting to peak over higher edges, listening to the heating exchange of words with the Council and the human ambassador. The Council was expressing doubt over Udina's revelation that he now possessed concrete proof of Saren's crime. He was getting flustered as a lot of eyes are on him while he stood in the podium clearing a few metres away from the Councilmembers.

Shepard and Alenko were behind Captain Anderson, who was few steps away from Udina.

"Are we going back in circles again, ambassador? We have already said that until you somehow manage to acquire imperative evidence that implicates Saren in such a ludicrous assumption, we will not entertain your games." The turian councillor rasped.

Annoyed at the belligerence, Udina played the file that Tali had given them.

_"__Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon will bring us one step closer into finding the conduit." A pause, followed by a female voice. "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

There was a collective gasp from the gathered crowd. Not surprisingly, the turian councillor had buried has face in his hand in shame. The salarian and asari councillors looked at each before facing Udina and nodding their heads.

"Yes, that is indeed Saren." The asari councillor proclaimed, hiding her embarrassment from protecting a traitor. "He will be stripped of his Spectre status and is now considered a criminal under Citadel law."

"Agreed. Saren is a traitor and shall be treated accordingly." The turian councillor suddenly rescinded from his earlier apprehension.

"Thank you, councillor." A rare moment of gratitude from Udina.

"But who is the other voice? What is this Reapers and conduit talk?" The turian councillor questioned, seemingly aimed at anyone who can answer.

"I know the other voice, that's Matriarch Benezia, a very powerful biotic and if she's in allegiance with Saren, this could be a matter of concern." The asari councillor admitted, wincing as she knew the Matriarch personally.

"And the conduit?" Anderson asked the Council.

They couldn't give a clear answer and was just as confused as they were.

Udina suddenly barked at the Council. "The disavowing of Saren isn't enough, he needs to be pursued with a fleet. Our colonies need to be safe and that can't be done with the traitor in the Attican Traverse roaming free."

Shepard and Alenko have both subconsciously agreed to punch Udina in the jaw someday.

"We can't risk sending in a fleet in the Traverse." The salarian councillor interfered. "We are not going to war with the Terminus Systems. Or risk one."

"We can't let Saren go just because of a threat for a border clash!" Udina was raucous.

The asari councillor then raised her hand and silenced the tribunal. "There is… another way."

He sensed what was coming and the turian councillor faced the asari. "No! It's too soon."

Shepard knew exactly what was coming next. Udina just had to make it more obvious.

"Stop holding us back! Send one ship in to pursue! Ours!" The ambassador practically yelled.

The Council became quiet. The crowd watched in silence.

Commander Shepard stepped up next to Ambassador Udina and gave her piece. "The ambassador gets his human Spectre and you get a chance to pursue Saren without sending in your fleet." She said firmly, having enough of the political mongering.

The three councillors collectively nodded their head in unanimous, albeit somewhat anxious. "Commander Shepard, step forward." The asari councillor coolly said.

The N7 Special Forces operator suddenly felt, for the first time in a long time, a rush of nervousness. She turned to face her mentor in search of some calm and found it in the form of a reassuring head nod, urging her to go on. Shepard walked up one more step, as close as she can get without falling over the clearing between her and the councillors. Now truly, all eyes were on Commander Shepard. Several watchers have produced their video recorders and started documenting the impromptu ceremony, one that effectively places humanity on a pedestal.

"It has been decided by the Council to grant Commander Shepard of the Alliance all the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel." The asari councillor announced.

Everyone intently watched.

The salarian councillor spoke. "Spectres are chosen, not trained. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file."

Shepard stood at attention, taking in the ceremony as if she was being promoted. She could hear camera shutters clicking from their discreet flashes.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, the beholder of our laws, instruments of our will." The asari councillor continued.

His voice vibrated throughout the deathly silent vicinity. "Spectres bear an unbearable burden. Both our shield and spear. The first and last line of security, the safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold and defend." The turian councillor said informally.

Shepard then went to ease as the Council shared their parting words.

"Commander Shepard, you are now the first human Spectre. This is a great achievement for your species." The asari councillor calmly stated.

"We will send you all of our available intelligence in aid of your mission to neutralise Saren." The turian punched in his omni-tool and sent it to Shepard, who was now officially in the Spectres Network.

Shepard breathed in deep, taking the sudden induction in. No doubt she had attracted every major human news outlet. The Alliance probably already sent a military reporter to give her an interview and boost recruitment in the colonies and Earth. As soon as the Council left after sharing their final statements, she turned to face Alenko, Anderson, and Udina. The former two promptly congratulated her, patting her shoulders. Udina however, had decided that congratulatory actions are petty and went straight to business.

"Commander, I'll be taking Captain Anderson and have a conversation about what you need. Meanwhile, I suggest you head on to the Normandy after you've done all of your excursions, if you have any." Udina then promptly left with Anderson before further words were said.

Alenko widened his eyes. "Wow, not even a hint of kudos."

"I kinda see his point. Unless we catch Saren, my whole induction into the Spectres is pointless." Shepard admitted, looking around at the people who were now walking away from the ceremony.

"I'm right behind you, Commander." The lieutenant affirmed. "To the Normandy?"

"No…" Shepard said, remembering something. "I have to do some clothes shopping."

"Shopping, Commander?" Alenko furrowed his eyebrows.

"For Joshua. He's been wearing the same clothes since he enlisted." Shepard almost whispering as she walked away from the podium with a smile on her face.


	6. Blue Jeans

**Blue Jeans**

Vaccarelli rummaged through his satchel while sitting down in the lab. Out came a crumpled pack of cigarettes and the lone stick that some new face from his squad gave him. He figured that Chakwas must've placed it inside the satchel while she took care of him. He set the cigarette and pack aside, returning his hand inside the fading leather bag. A folded photo of his family at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona during his teenage years, before the war, is what was pinched between his fingers. He stared at the sepia portrait. His sister was under his arm, placed in a playful headlock, while his mother had an ice cream in her hand, smiling at the camera. His dad was giving a thumb up, an unintended side effect from signalling the person that took the picture.

They got a lot of stares that day, due to the racial difference between his mother and father, though none dared to say anything. The worst one was the popcorn man who gave his dad an evil look while serving him. His father, being the smartass he was, decided to wink at the man. Joshua giggled like a schoolboy at the memory.

The day after that, at his school, he was punched by a guy because he simply looked at his girl. His dad taught him how to box that afternoon. Soon, he was hitting his punching bag at a rate that impressed even the older men in his gym and was running faster than his school's football team. Of course, he didn't get into a fight or join a sport, but some of the kids from his school had seen him run or hit the punching bag, and word spread. No one bothered him after rumours flew around that he was a scary guy to fight. It was his father's plan all along. _"Carry a big stick and never use it." _That was his dad's ideology.

He kept himself physically fit to retain the image of that. Eventually he did box behind his father's back to earn some money on the side. He won quite often, but his father soon caught on and beat some sense to him. He stopped and it led to him selling newspapers and comics for his father's friend. Joshua never really complained about it.

He examined his cigarette after he put the photo back in his satchel. A zippo lighter was among his belongings. Joshua contemplated about lighting up the cigarette that was just as lost in time as he was. He looked at his rifle leaning on the crates and also glanced at his M1911 sidearm that was next to him. He suddenly realised that these weapons were now ancient collectibles at this time.

Joshua's mind then drifted off to the last day he saw his family before he left for boot camp. He smiled at the memory, remembering his mother's words, which were out of character for what he considered a very humble and modest woman. "You go and kill fucking all of 'em that you see." She said with a smile while letting him go from an embrace.

Shepard had just finished looking through a human catalogue for civilian wear. She was unsure on what Vaccarelli would like so she had to search for clothing that would be familiar to him. In the end, she had to take the Citadel Rapid to the Tayseri Ward in order to get one. Though it was a bit of a travel, it actually took less than thirty minutes from her leaving the Presidium and finishing the little excursion of shopping. She had hoped that her selection of clothing would be sufficient and comfortable enough for Joshua. Her purchases were then packaged and sent to the Normandy.

"A pair of classic Levi 501s, pair of khakis, three shirts, and leather shoes and belt. Do you think that's good enough, LT?" Shepard asked him. "And of course, I'm sure we have some spare Alliance issued underwear. I also took the liberty of buying him a typical colonist jumpsuit."

"Sounds a little like the period-piece vids, but I guess it'll work. How'd you get his sizes?" Alenko replied.

"I just asked Doctor Chakwas." Shepard shrugged. "It's just body measurements."

After returning back to the Upper Wards by way of the Rapid, Shepard and Alenko walked past Michel's clinic, and on to the Markets of the area. Shepard had wanted to buy a few mods and ammunition modifiers with her easily earned credits from Fist. The volus merchant tending to them was a chatty one, showing them options after options. Shepard waved them all off, settling for incendiary ammunition mods and more powerful heat sinks. She knew well that pursuing Saren would have some gunfights, which made her opt to purchase some stronger shield batteries as well. All of her purchases were mostly for the crew that would be going with her during landing parties. She sent them all to the Normandy, messaging ahead to Charlie the Requisition Officer to let him know that they're coming.

They were about to leave until someone called out Shepard's name.

"Commander Shepard!" A voice tried to get her attention.

Alenko was the first to look and found the source—a blond man in typical spacer's jumpsuit waving his arm about in a giddy way. The blond walked to them just as Shepard stopped.

"Looks like you got a fan, Commander." Alenko jokingly commented, figuring that the man wasn't military or C-Sec.

"Commander, Commander!" He called while making his way towards the duo. "Commander Shepard, what an honour it is to finally meet you!" The man then saluted him as best he can.

"Uh, thank you..?" Shepard was bewildered at the current event.

"Conrad Verner. My wife and I are big fans." The blond said, practically jumping up and down.

Shepard had to blink twice, trying to still fathom.

"They said you killed hundreds of geth at Eden Prime and rescued all the survivors! What a hero!" Conrad was slack-jawed. "I bet you received all sorts of medals for that, didn't you?"

She had to refrain from doing a double-take. In fact, she had received no accolades for her actions at Eden Prime. Alenko was obviously holding in his need to chuckle from amusement.

"Can I get your autograph, Commander? My wife would be so impressed if I did." Conrad didn't wait for Shepard's response before opening up his omni-tool and pulling up his, 'drawing,' program.

"Uh…" Shepard was still surprised. "Sure." She leaned over and signed it.

"Wow, thanks, Commander! I can't wait to show this to my wife!" Conrad then took off, running down to the lower markets and disappearing.

Shepard and Alenko exchanged some looks. The lieutenant was laughing jovial, unable to contain his feeling. Shepard tried to search for the man by scanning the area, but he was gone. Alenko was recovering from his raspy giggling as Shepard gave him a look that showed her confusion and amusement as well.

"What the hell just happened, Alenko?" Shepard turned to her partner.

"I don't know, but damn, that was funny!" The lieutenant was red from restrained laughing.

Joshua had found himself sitting against the bulkhead as he resumed his reading. He just recently figured out how to access an omni-tool's Codex. Ashley had told him that an omni-tool comes equipped with the Codex so that first time off-world travellers wouldn't be too unfamiliar with the galactic community. He read through the Earth section and he began to feel that home might not be home anymore.

Everything was grey, Los Angeles was a megacity. From what he could tell, the tall buildings now spanned from the downtown he knew, all the way to the outskirts of the San Pedro docks. Everything looked blocky, stacks of squares and slopes lined up against each other in a grid. There were flying cars which he found to his amusement. Space travel was commonplace enough that there were two spaceports in the LA Megacity alone. This Los Angeles was beyond foreign to him, yet he still wanted to see it for himself.

He went back to the Codex, started studying all the basic stuff he can. He started with the mass effect technology, because he realised that it was connected to virtually everything around him. Joshua couldn't completely wrap his head around the Element Zero and its effects. He understood the scientific explanation from what he can tell, but back in his years, this type of technology was nothing more than fiction. It all seemed like what he would read from the likes of Jules Verne or H.G. Wells. When an electrical current is subjected on to the element, it produces a dark energy field that either lowered or increased the mass of the objects within it. He read on and took in the fact that this phenomenon dubbed, 'mass effect,' was the responsible for making faster-than-light travel possible. Ships were all built around a mass effect core drive that replaced the engines, a far cry from the old ones that Joshua had seen in action. A lot of the explanations were a little difficult for him to understand, but he tried to make sense out of it all.

Space travel for longer distances needed the use of the mass relays. Technology that has apparently existed even before the Citadel Council came into being. These relays practically create corridors where there was no mass which allowed ships to travel almost instantly within two opposite points in the galaxy, as they operated like a phone made out of a can and strings. The relays were fixed points in the galaxy and a lot of them remained dormant, fearing that there might be a danger on the other end. The attached photo of a mass relay quickly etched itself into Joshua's brain. He found it beautiful and he couldn't believe that a moon of Pluto was actually a mass relay. Then again, he didn't even know Pluto had moons until his recent reading of the current solar system.

From the mass relay topic, he ended up reading how humanity entered the galactic stage. He took mental notes out of everything he could and looked at the readings as if it was a class he had a test for. Humanity found the remnants of an alien base on Mars. That made him laugh, because growing up, all aliens he had read about were always Martians. From that base, humanity studied the technology, which led to the mass effect powered ships, which led to Pluto's moon Charon being activated a mass relay, which then led eventually led to the First Contact War.

Joshua was suddenly baffled that humanity's introduction to the rest of the galactic community was through a war. It stemmed from the simple fact that humans didn't know of the galactic law. The turians intercepted the human colonists and it became a short exchange between the human and alien militaries. There were losses on both sides, but thankfully the Citadel Council stepped in before the Turian Hierarchy launched a full scale assault on a colony planet. Slowly, humanity was then accepted, but the galaxy now became wary of them. Joshua couldn't help but be proud to be a human as he read on why humans were looked at by other races as a formidable species.

At the colony, Shanxi, humans were overwhelmed by the turians. The turians then thought that the ships they had defeated were the bulk of the human forces. Then the Alliance sent in the entire Second Fleet and assaulted the turians back. After the war, the galaxy realised that even though the Alliance Military only consisted of volunteers, which was actually less than 3% of the population—a massive difference to any other species, the humans adapted to space warfare with haste. So much so that the Council itself had dubbed the Alliance as a "sleeping giant." Even though the Alliance weren't as skilled as the asari, salarians, or turians, the humans were a formidable force with battlefield support.

He turned to another Codex page and caught up on how weaponry has changed. Modern weapons were now powered by miniature mass accelerators. Joshua had to quickly look up what they were and found them amazing. Of course, it was based around element zero and the mass effect. Now weapons were using ammunition blocks built inside the firearm itself. Every time the trigger was pulled, the gun's inner workings would shave off a little piece which was then propelled by the accelerator to a lethal speed. Pulling a bullet from a deep wound wasn't much of a concern anymore. He looked at the basic infantry service weapon for the Alliance, the M-8 Avenger Rifle.

"It's a bit bulky." He murmured to himself.

To him, it looked like the upper half of a circle cut into two with a pistol grip, a stock, and what he could tell was a scope. It looked futuristic to him. Then he turned to see another example of a modern rifle. "Is every weapon in the future bulky?" He shook his head as he swiped the screen for the next photos of weapons ranging from rifles to shotguns, and to pistols.

"M-96 Mattock, blocky. M-15 Vindicator, blocky." Joshua muttered, reading the captions on each photo. "M-3 Predator Pistol, also blocky."

He was, however, fascinated with the way storing weapons worked. Each gun would collapse into a smaller shape at the press of a switch that could then be stored on a magnetic holster on a person. He also found out that most weapons were compatible with computers that can assist with aiming. Joshua found it a little disappointing that firearms didn't rely on a user's skill as much anymore.

"Wow."

Joshua then lied back down to the chilly deck and continued his studying, not minding the hard surface.

He switched topics again and this time he was on the subject of medical technology. Joshua then felt up his gunshot wound that gave off no more pain than a bruise.

Shepard and Alenko had finally reached the C-Sec Academy after the bizarre incident with the Commander's fan. The place was crowded as it doubled as a campus for criminal justice majors and a precinct for the Citadel's Presidium. Turians and asari mostly filled the ranks in the Academy with a couple of humans here and there. Anderson had just pinged Shepard that him and Udina we're waiting for her outside of the Normandy.

Garrus and Tali saw the Commander and the Lieutenant. The two walked up to them and said that they had their gear sent to the Normandy already. Garrus commented that Charlie wasn't too welcoming at the new additions of crewmembers not already in the manifest, stating that he would have to change around the requisitions to accommodate differing needs between species.

"Don't worry about him, he just prefers at least a day or two of reminding. He has no problems with aliens, I'm sure." Shepard assured him.

In the middle of the Academy was an elevator that went all the way to the docks. Shepard headed that way with her squad, all prepared to leave. She had just pressed the button to call the lift when suddenly a large, threatening figure loomed over the four. It was a krogan dressed in full battle armour- thick red hardsuit of the highest level of protection. The krogan approached the Commander's squad with a displeased look on his scaly face that reminded Shepard of a dinosaur. "You." The krogan had a deep, vibrating voice.

"Do I know you?" Shepard countered. Her squad started to prepare themselves for a hostile threat.

"No, but I know of you. You took my bounty." The krogan stepped forward. "Tell your pyjaks I'm not interested in a fight."

Shepard gestured for her squad to ease down. "Who are you?"

"My name is Wrex. I was hired by the Shadow Broker to kill Fist." The krogan concentrated his eyes at Shepard. "Only you got to him first."

"… Okay?" The Commander tilted her head.

"That means you get the bounty." Wrex brought up his omni-tool and transferred ten thousand credits before Shepard could protest. "That was a good kill."

Her omni-tool pinged as it received the credit transfer. "Uh, thanks?"

"There's another thing." Wrex leaned back. "I want to come with you."

Shepard raised an eyebrow and looked at her Alenko who appeared to have the same expression. "Why?"

Wrex gave a low growling laugh. "I know you're going after Saren. A big storm is coming and you and him are right in the middle of it. I want in."

Shepard couldn't deny the assistance of a krogan mercenary. "I have no intentions to pay for your services, Wrex."

"Bring me and I consider that payment enough." The krogan said.

"Alright. We're heading up to Dock 422. Do you need time to bring you gear?" Shepard asked, accepting the krogan's offer.

"All my gear are already on me." Wrex replied.

Shepard nodded and packed into the elevator with everybody else. She was contemplating on how to explain to Anderson and especially to Udina that she planned on tasking a multi-species team in order to pursuit Saren. Then it clicked to her head—she's a Spectre of the Citadel. Even though she still answered to the Alliance Military, the Citadel Council also allowed making her own decisions on how to approach cases given to her so long as it leads to mission accomplishment. She figured she'll have to get used to the blank check that the Council has practically given her.

Wrex took notice of the quarian standing close to the turian. "I don't see many quarians." He commented.

"I'm on my pilgrimage, krogan." Tali felt tense, recalling stories from the flotilla about how krogans could be.

Alenko immediately felt an awkward tension rising and decided to break it up. "Wrex, that's Garrus, Tali. I'm Staff Lieutenant Alenko." He looked over at Shepard who gave him an approving expression.

"A turian, a quarian, a krogan, and two humans walk into an elevator." Garrus joked as the lift kept on rising. "Anyone else agree this is the start of a pub joke?"

Wrex gave a wry low chuckle to the surprise of Garrus.

The elevator hissed to a halt and the door slid down. Dock 422 had a perfect view of the Citadel stretch. Just over the far railing opposite of her was the ward she was just on a few moments ago. Every time they docked, she couldn't really imagine the population of New York or Shanghai was matching the number of people on each of the five wards. Her attention shifted from the lights of the ward and on to Anderson and Udina, who were right outside the gangway to the Normandy.

Udina was quizzical as he saw Shepard's company, he compared it to those impromptu meeting of ambassadors he would sometimes have. "What's with the army?" He asked.

"I need a team of different talents. As a Spectre, I'm allowed to take whatever action as I see fit." Shepard simply said. She motioned her hand to her squad. "Talent."

The Ambassador raised a concern. "You can't bring those aliens aboard an Alliance ship!"

"Udina, didn't we just have a conversation about the ship's new commander?" Captain Anderson heckled.

Udina lightly covered his face with his palm and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

Shepard furrowed her eyebrows and turned to the Captain.

"Yes, you heard right, Commander." Anderson confirmed. "I'm stepping down as the commanding officer of the Normandy. You're a Spectre and you need a ship. The Normandy is perfect for you."

"Are you sure that this doesn't have anything to do with your history with Saren, Captain?" Shepard asked.

"I'll admit it had some influence, but beyond that, no, Commander. This is for the best. I'm sure you'll do fine, child." Anderson gave the same reassuring look he has given his protégé a multitude of times.

Shepard smiled at her mentor. "Thank you, Captain. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?"

"Yes, Navigator Pressly is now your Executive Officer." Anderson said to her.

Udina raised his arm and opened up his omni-tool. "We've also received the leads that the Council wanted you to have." He started to send the files over to Shepard. "You have three. The primary lead is Matriarch Benezia's daughter. We don't know much about her except that she's an archaeologist somewhere in the Artemis Tau cluster."

"How could she be the primary lead if there isn't much known about her?" Shepard inquired.

Garrus stifled a chuckle. Wrex didn't.

"She's the only known family relation to Benezia. Not to mention she probably was the last person she spoke to before she worked for Saren." Udina explained. "There's the colony of Zhu's Hope in Feros, there's been reports of a massive geth presence closing in."

"Should we hurry?"

"I don't think so, they're saying that they're just on standby, waiting for something. It's your call, Commander." Udina continued. "The last lead is at Noveria, where Benezia leased a high-security laboratory for her needs. Find out what it is and see if it's not worthless."

Shepard and Alenko reviewed the files on the spot as they received the load. "I think we'll start off with Benezia's daughter." The Commander said.

"Like he said, it's your call, Commander. The ship and the mission are yours. If you need us, we're just a QEC away." Anderson voiced.

"That's about it, Shepard. The Council would be expecting reports from you periodically, but don't forget that you're still within Alliance reach." Udina started to walk away, leaving behind the Captain with his protégé.

Anderson approached closer to Shepard. "About Vaccarelli…" Shepard leaned in enough for whispering. "He's gonna be under your wing for now. Let cool things down. He's an analyst aboard the SSV Normandy. Doctor Chakwas will send me any updates relating to him. You can too."

"Analyst, Captain?" Shepard questioned.

"Chakwas told me that he's been engrossed in reading ever since we left the ship. Only stopped for a chow and water break. Williams told me the same. We're just gonna have to assume that he'll keep it up and keep learning." Anderson crossed his arms, the situation was delicate and the best course of action was to make sure no one would be suspicious.

"There's also another thing." Shepard offered.

"He's had the same vision as you. And another one that you didn't have." Anderson muttered in uncertainty.

"Yeah. Any word from Alliance brass, sir?" Shepard was just as in the dark as him.

"Just one. It's under our discretion. Unless he becomes a threat or show any sign of figuring out exactly how he jumped time, there isn't really much the Alliance can do with a man coming from an age long past." Anderson repeated the words of an Alliance high official.

"You'd think they'd be more excited with a time-traveller." Shepard griped.

"Forty years ago, we didn't know there was such a thing as a galactic government." Anderson replied. "I think the Alliance probably anticipated something like this happening down the line and now they don't really care."

Shepard shook her head in disbelief.

"He's your responsibility now, Commander. Do what you think would be proper. Assimilate him so he's not completely out of water. He seems open to the change, but I'm sure he's gonna need help." The Captain advised. "It's also up to you if you want to share that fact with your squad."

"Not yet, Captain. I'll just say that he's also been touched by the prothean beacon." Shepard decided, not too confident that the new members of the Normandy would accept the idea of a time-traveller well.

"Very well. The rest of your crew has returned from their little furlough. They're waiting for you, Commander." Anderson said proud. "Good luck, child."

"Aye, Captain." Shepard replied, saluting her mentor out of respect.

Anderson returned the salute and walked away, confident that Shepard would do the thing that he couldn't do for what seemed like ages ago—take down Saren.

Joshua was on a Codex page describing the Protheans. His eyes were red and drowsiness was creeping up on him. He absorbed the commonly known facts about the disappearance of the extinct race and cross-checked some information using the extranet. He started to feel like he's being efficient in using his omni-tool for researching purposes. There were still some features that he hadn't touched, fearing that it could do something to his now cherished object.

He zoomed in on a photo of prothean writing and focused his eyes on the text. It looked incredibly familiar to him, even though he was sure this was the very first time he had seen it. Then his head started to thump and throb again. He raised his right hand to touch his forehead, which seemed to have a vein throbbing so hard that it might burst. With his consciousness over the pain still active, he stood up, and rushed to the medbay.

Doctor Chakwas was on the far side of the room and it seemed like a mile away to Vaccarelli. His vision suddenly flashed into black and heard words.

_"__Run."_ It was repeated over and over in a heavily accented voice. _"Run far and run fast. Hide. You cannot fight. They cannot be stopped."_ Then came the figures again, running away from something not within view. A deep blaring noise echoed as a red beam of light suddenly traced a scorched line of dirt on the ground.

The doctor heard the footsteps and she turned around to see a hunched over man struggling to walk, holding his forehead. He was mumbling words as she stood up and rushed to catch him when he started to look like he'd keel over.

"Cannot be stopped…" Joshua whispered as his legs felt tired and boneless.

"Joshua, what's going on-" Chakwas barely caught him by his arms.

"Cannot be stopped." Joshua said, fully collapsing into Chakwas.

"Williams, dear, I need your help!" The doctor projected a little louder than her regularly calm voice.

Ashley came jogging in, immediately holding up Joshua and setting him down on the nearest bunk. "What happened, doc?" She asked, suddenly feeling like she could've somehow stopped his collapsing.

"I assume it's one of those visions again. Said something about, 'cannot be stopped,' does it sound familiar?" The doctor responded, checking Joshua's pulse and vitals.

"No, not that I know of, doc." Ashley replied. "Have to let the Commander know about this." She booted up her omni-tool and pinged a message straight to Shepard, who was actually on the way to the medbay.

Shepard came back from the medbay, finding out that Joshua had another vision- moments before she boarded the Normandy with her recently found crewmembers, though this time it made him pass out. Her mind raced as she hypothesised what the vision could've been. "I wonder what those words mean..."

She felt a little disappointed when she found him lying back down on the medbay bunk. Shepard was actually excited on introducing him to the aliens that were now a part of the crew and share the news of her recent Spectre induction, to explain the complexities of Citadel government. She just strongly felt the need to talk to him, seeing it as that Joshua was probably feeling alone and unwilling to get attached to anyone in his new time.

She had sent Garrus to the cargo hold, by the M35 Mako Infantry Fighting Vehicle, figuring he'd appreciate the mechanical aspect. He did. She sent Tali to Engineering, which the quarian immediately took interest in, commenting about the ship's core drive. Wrex chose the area next to the armoury, citing that being next to firepower was as good as any home. Happy with their placements, Shepard made her way back to the bridge where a somewhat stoic Joker waited for orders.

"Kinda sucks to the Captain, eh, Commander?" Joker said.

"Yeah… It feels like I'm just taking his place." Shepard admitted.

"Guy like that, enough medals to melt to make a statue of himself gets canned over some bureaucratic bullcrap?" Joker shook his head in disappointment.

"Agreed. I'm gonna have to address the crew, huh?" Shepard sighed.

"Got that right, Commander. This ship's yours." He replied, showing her the button for the shipwide PA system.

She took a deep breath, approached forward, and pressed down on the button. "This is Commander Shepard."

"We have our orders. Find Saren before he finds the conduit. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy." Shepard's voice vibrated through the Normandy. "For too long our species has stood apart from everybody else. Now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the galaxy we are now a part of. It's about time that we show what humanity is capable of."

"Our enemy might know that we're coming and once we enter the Traverse, they'll be waiting, but with the assistance of other species aboard, we'll be beyond ready for them too." Shepard reassuringly voiced over the system. "Humanity needs to do this not just for ourselves but for every other species out there in Citadel space."

Shepard started to get a little louder, more confident. "Saren must be stopped."

"We. Will. Stop. Him." She ended, letting go of the PA system control.

Joker looked up at the Commander with a beaming smile. "Well said, Commander. The Captain would be proud."

Shepard turned stoic as she took in the gravity of her upcoming choices. "The Captain gave up everything just so I can have a shot at doing this." She started to walk off the bridge. "We can't fail." Shepard almost whispered.

"Yes, ma'am." Joker responded.

"Set course for Artemis Tau cluster. Time to find Benezia's daughter." The Commander turned to Joker before getting out of his hearing range.

"Aye-aye, Commander." Joker adjusted the brim of his cap as he started to change the vectors of the ship.

**A/N: **Short chapter, but it's something to carry the story over to the more exciting stuff along with the bonding times and introduction of Joshua to the other races. How do you think I should handle them? A single chapter that could reach 10,000 words or split them into my current format, 5-7k per chapter? Let me know along with your reviews.

And can someone tell me how to do visible line breaks again? It seems like the site updated while I was gone. Thanks, fellas!


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